yti^a/ 


c/C.^4u>r^  ^^/i^^'^^-^ 


7/ri*i  ^rjt/y  ^  '^^ra/t/<  rf^a 


Property   Of 
H.MORSE  srepHEi^s 

Do    NOT     REMOVE 

PROM     SEMlilAR 


?  7^ 


jEuropean  1bl9torp 

Europe  in  the  Middle  Agfe 

By  Olu'er  J.  Thatcher  and  Ferdinand 
ScHCviLL,  Professors  of  History  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago.  With  lo  maps,  izmo, 
680  pages,  $2.00  net. 

A  Short  History  of 
Medieval  Europe 

By  Oliver  J.  Thatcher,  Ph.D.  With  maps. 
i2mo,  340  pages,  $1.25  net. 


History  of  Modern  Europe 


By  Ferdinand  Sch%,vill,  Ph.D.  With  maps 
and  genealogical  tables.  Crown  8vo,  450  pages, 
I1.50  net. 


MODERN  EUROPE 


HISTORY  OF 

MODERN    EUROPE 


BY 

FERDINAND    SCHEV^ILL,    Ph.D. 

INSTRUCTOR    IN    MODERN    HISTORY   AT  THE    UNIVERSITY  OF   CHICAGO 


WITH  MAPS  AND   GENEALOGICAL    TABLES 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1898 


Copyright,  1898,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


HENRY  MORSE  STEPHEUS 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  aOOKBINOINQ  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 


^^ 


AUTHOR'S   NOTE 

During  the  preparation  of  this  book  I  have 
received  valuable  help  from  many  people,  to 
all  of  whom  I  desire  to  make  a  grateful  ac- 
knowledgment of  my  indebtedness.  Especially 
do  I  thank  my  colleagues  of  the  History 
Department,  Messrs.  Thatcher,  Catterall,  and 
Thompson,  and  Mr.  Linn,  of  the  Department 
of  Rhetoric.  I  am  also  under  deep  obligation 
to  Miss  Moxley,  who  has  kindly  prepared  the 
Index. 

F.  S. 

University  of  Chicago, 
July  1st,  i~898. 


509735 


CONTENTS 

Introduction  :  page 

a.  Why  We  Date  the  Modern  Era  from  the 

End  of  the  Fifteenth  Century   ...         i 

b.  The  Voyages  of  Discovery  and  the  Eu- 

ropean    Colonization     of     the     New- 
World    4 

c.  The  European  States  at  the  Beginning 

of  the  Modern  Period ii 


PERIOD  I 

The  Reformation  and  the  Wars  of  Religion  ;  from  Luther 
to  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,     {^i^i'j-1648?) 

I.  The  History  of  the  Reformation  in 
Germany  to  the  Peace  of  Augs- 
burg (1555)     .....    \     ...     .       27 

II.  The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in 
Europe  and  the  Counter  Reforma- 
tion of  the  Catholic  Church  ...       47 

III.  Spain  under  Charles  I.  (1516-56),  known 

AS  Emperor  Charles  V.,  and  Philip 
II.  (1556-98) ;  HER  World  Eminence 
•AND  HER  Decay 59 

IV.  England     under     the     Tudors     (1485- 

1603)  ;  Final  Triumph  of  the   Refor- 
mation   under   Elizabeth  (1559-1603)       68 
vii 


viii  Contents 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

V.  The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands  and 
Triumph  of  the  Seven  United  Prov- 
inces (1566-1648) 100 

VI.  The    Reformation    in    France    to    the 

Religious       Settlements      of      1598 
(Edict  of  Nantes)  and  1629  ....     119 

VII.  The  Thirty  Years'  War  (1618-48)  and 

the  Peace  of  Westphalia 141 


PERIOD  II 

The  Era  of  Absolutism  and  the  Dynastic  Wars  j  from  the 

Peace  of  Westphalia  to  the  French  Revolution. 

{1648-178^.) 

I.  England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century. 
The  Stuarts,  the  Puritan  Revo- 
lution, and  the  Establishment  of 
THE  Constitutional  Monarchy  under 
William  III 163 

II.  The  Ascendancy  of  France  under  Louis 

XIV.  (1643-1715) 200 

III.  The  Rise  of  Russia   under   Peter   the 

Great  (1689-1725)  and  Catharine  the 
Great  (1762-96);  the  Decay  of  Swe- 
den      215 

IV.  The  Rise  of  Prussia  in  the  Seventeenth 

AND  Eighteenth  Centuries    ....     230 

V.  England  and  France  in  the  Eighteenth 

Century 248 


Contents  ix 


PERIOD  III 

The  Political  Revolutions  and  the  Reconstruction  of  the 

Europeafi  States  ;  from  the  French  Revolution  to 

the    Congress  of  Berlin,     (17 8^- 18'/ 8.) 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  French  Revolution  (1789-1815)      .     266 
II.  The    Attempt    to    Govern    Europe    in 
Accordance  with  the  Principles  and 
Articles  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna 
(1815-30) i-7^2> 

III.  The  Revolution  of  1830  in  France  and 

Elsewhere 344 

IV.  The     Government     of    Louis     Philippe 

(1830-48)   and    the    French    Revolu- 
tion OF  1848 352 

V.  The  Revolution   of    1848   in   Germany, 

Austria,  and  Italy 359 

VI.  France  under  Napoleon  III. — The  Uni- 
fication OF  Italy 372 

VII.  The  Unification  of  Germany    ....     380 

VIII.  Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury   392 

IX.  Russia  and  the  Balkan  Peninsula  400 

Index 409 

Chronological  Tables    .,,...'...  425 

Maps 435 


MODERN    HISTORY 


INTRODUCTION. 

A.    WHY    WE    DATE    THE    MODERN    ERA     FROM    THE    END    OF 
THE    FIFTEENTH    CENTURY. 

During  the  last  two  centuries  of  the  Middle  Age  (1300-  The  transfor- 
1500),  a  series  of  changes  transformed  the  states  of  Europe,    byMiTRenafs- 
European  society,  and  the  European  man  himself.     These  s^"*^^- 
two  centuries  mark  a  transition  period,  and  are  very  prop- 
erly called  the    Renaissance.     During    the   Renaissance, 
state^  society,  and  man  emerged  from  their  mediaeval  con- 
dition and  assumed  a  new  aspect,  which  we  call  modern. 
Modern  History,  therefore,  we  date  from  the  period  of  the 
approximate  completion  of  this  evolutionary  process,  that 
is,  from  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  ^     The  agents  and 
events  which  contributed  most  largely  to  this  transforma- 
tion of  Europe  are  here  briefly  enumerated. 

I.  The  Revival  of  Learning. — First  in  Italy,  and  later 
in  the  countries  of  the  north,  men  began  to  interest  them- 
selves in  the  long-forgotten  literature  and  art  of  Greece  and 
Rome.  By  patient  labor  they  excavated,  as  it  were,  the 
buried  culture  of  antiquity  and  added  it  to  their  meagre 
mediaeval  stock.  Thus  gradually  the  narrow  mental  hori- 
zon of  the  mediaeval  man  extended  until  it  included  field 


1  The  year  1492  may,  for  its  convenience,  be  adopted  as  a  division 
mark  between  Mediaeval  and  Modern  History. 


Mb^rd  Europe 


after  field  of  human  endeavor  and  enterprise,  which  the 
preceding  centuries  either  from  fear  or  from  indifference 
had  avoided.  Learning  had  been  rehgious  and  dogmatic  ; 
it  now  became  free  and  universal.  The  scholar  was  no 
longer  confined  in  the  cowl. 

2.  The  Revival  of  Industry  and  Commerce. — The  later 
Middle  Age  is  marked  by  the  growth  of  the  cities  through 
industry  and  commerce.  The  prevalent  mediaeval  poverty 
gave  way  to  a  more  general  well-being  which  increased 
man's  economic  powers  and  enlarged  his  capacity  of  en- 
joyment. As  society  became  more  settled,  manufactures 
spread  and  commerce  grew  emboldened  to  follow  distant 
highways.  The  Crusades  were  instrumental  in  introducing 
the  west  to  the  luxurious  east,  and  if  they  failed  in  their 
immediate  object,  there  crowded  behind  the  warriors  of  the 
cross  the  traders  and  the  galleys  of  Venice  and  Genoa,  which 
sec\ired  a  lasting  and  fruitful  connection  between  the  Le- 
vant and  Europe.  The  Mediterranean  became  the  great 
highway  of  international  traffic.  Soon  the  cities  of  the  At- 
lantic coast  and  of  the  North  and  Baltic  Seas,  were  drawn 
into  the  current  of  the  new  commercial  life.  Finally,  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  commerce  was  multiplied  incalculably,  we 
may  say  revolutionized,  by  the  great  voyages  of  discovery. 

3.  The  Inventions, — The  introduction  of  gunpowder 
(fourteenth  century)  altered  entirely  the  conditions  of  war. 
The  superiority  of  the  mounted  knight  over  the  foot-soldier 
was  thereby  destroyed.  Thus  through  its  loss  of  impor- 
tance in  the  military  field  to  which,  during  the  Middle  Age, 
it  owed  its  political  preeminence,  the  feudal  order  of  nobles 
received  an  irreparable  injury.  A  standing  army  of  mer- 
cenaries was  found  by  a  ruler  to  be  both  more  serviceable 
and  more  reliable  than  a  self-willed  aristocracy.  The  king 
in  consequence  began  to  emancipate  himself  from  the  con- 
trol of  his  nobles. 


Introduction 

^ 


The  invention  of  printing^  by  multiplying  books,  made 
culture  accessible  to  the  many.  Ideas,  hitherto  the  privilege 
of  the  priest  and  noble,  began  to  throw  their  light  i  ^to  the 
dark  and  brutal  lives  of  the  lower  orders. 

4.  The  Growth  of  Absolutis^n. — The  economic  changes 
consequent  upon  the  decay  of  the  nobles  and  the  growth 
of  the  cities,  involved  also  a  political  revolution.  If  in  the 
Middle  Age  the  nobles  had  been  the  dominant  political 
factor,  it  was,  first,  because  they  formed  the  army,  and, 
secondly,  because  the  one  great  source  of  wealth  in  that 
period,  the  land,  was  in  their  possession.  In  the  Modern 
Period,  owing  to  the  invention  of  gunpowder,  they  were 
no  longer  necessary  for  the  army,  and  land,  owing  to  the 
growth  of  the  cities,  fell  from  its  position  of  sole  source  of 
wealth.  The  king  and  the  cities,  who  had  a  common  en- 
emy in  the  nobility,  soon  found  themselves  strong  enough 
to  unseat  their  rival  from  his  place  of  power.  Gradually 
the  king  began  to  absorb  the  political  powers  of  the  no- 
bility. Thus  the  feudal  state,  in  which  the  power  was  dis- 
tributed among  the  members  of  an  aristocracy,  decayed. 
In  its  place  arose  the  absolute  monarchy,  with  the  power 
concentrated  in  one  man. 

5.  The  Voyages  of  Discovery. — The  voyages  of  discovery 
must  be  reckoned  in  their  effects  among  the  most  conspic- 
uous and  far-reaching  of  the  events  which  usher  in  the  Mod- 
ern Age.  The  mediaeval  geography  did  not  push  its  in- 
quiries beyond  the  basin  of  the  Mediterranean  and  of  the 
North  and  Baltic  Seas.  Beyond  these  limits  seemed  to  lie 
chaos.  But  now  by  the  voyages  of  discovery  there  was 
communicated  to  Europeans  the  knowledge  of  vast  lands  be- 
yond their  continent.  The  returning  adventurers  told  of 
countries,  sometimes  of  tropical  luxuriance,  sometimes  of 


» Ascribed  to  John  Gutenberg  of  Mainz,  1450. 


4  Modern  Europe 


forbidding  cold  and  barrenness,  and  unfolded  a  tale  of 
peoples,  brown  and  black  and  red,  who  dwelt  in  all  degrees 
of  squalor  and  of  splendor,  here  in  adobe  huts  and  there  in 
golden  palaces.  Our  plain  earth  acquired  a  new  delight 
and  wonder  from  such  wealth  of  unexpected  fact.  Just  as 
the  Revival  of  Learning,  which  added  new  continents  to 
man's  mental  world,  had  led  him  upon  untravelled  paths  of 
intellectual  investigation,  so  the  discoveries,  which  com- 
pleted the  knowledge  of  the  physical  world,  pushed  him 
out  upon  larger  material  enterprises.  At  one  and  the  same 
time  man  was  stimulated,  as  perhaps  never  in  his  whole 
history,  to  summon  and  exercise  his  mental  and  his  physical 
resources. 

B.    THE   VOYAGES    OF    DISCOVERY    AND    THE    EUROPEAN 
COLONIZATION    OF    THE    NEW    WORLD. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  treat  the  voyages  of  discovery 
and  their  results  in  a  little  more  detail.  The  voyages  of 
discovery  w^ere  natural  consequences  of  the  expansion  of 
commerce  which  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  Crusades. 
The  trade  with  the  Levant  which  had  rapidly  made  Genoa 
and  Venice  rich,  naturally  aroused  the  cupidity  of  their 
The  direction  neighbors.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  Spaniards  and 
and  ^he^^Por-  Portuguese  undertook  to  find  a  highway  to  the  east  other 

tuguese  voy-     ^-i^^^  tj^g  Mediterranean.     Their  endeavors  in  this  enter- 
ages. 

prise  led  to  all  the  subsequent  discoveries.     The  heroes  of 

this  chapter  of  human  progress  are  therefore  generally  Span- 
iards and  Portuguese,  or  Italians  in  the  service  of  these 
nations.  The  Portuguese  travellers  were  mainly  governed 
by  the  idea  of  finding  a  sea-passage  to  India  ^  by  sail- 
ing around  Africa ;  they  pushed  eastward.  The  Spanish 
sailors  sought  to  discover  a  sea-passage  to  India  by  circum- 


» India,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  was  a  collective  name  for  the  whole 
Orient. 


Introduction 


5 


Vasco  da 
Gama. 


navigating  the  globe;  they  pushed  westward.  Each  of 
these  series  of  undertakings  was  accompanied  by  marvel- 
lous successes,  and  each  had  a  unique  climax. 

In  the  year  1492  Christopher  Columbus  (Italian  form  of  Columbus  and 
name,  Cristoforo  Colombo  ;  Spanish  form,  Cristoval  Co- 
lon), an  Italian  from  the  city  of  Genoa,  who  had  entered 
the  service  of  Isabella,  queen  of  Castile,  discovered,  while 
seeking  a  westward  passage  to  India,  the  island  of  San 
Salvador,  and  thus  first  demonstrated  to  the  world  the  ex- 
istence of  land  beyond  the  Atlantic.^  The  new  continent 
was,  by  a  tragical  mishap,  not  named  after  its  discoverer, 
but  after  a  Florentine  traveller  and  geographer,  Amerigo 
Vespucci,  who  owed  his  fame  to  the  fact  that  he  wrote  one 
of  the  first  acceptable  treatises  on  the  New  World.  In  the 
year  1498  the  endeavors  of  the  Portuguese  to  find  an  eastern 
sea-passage  to  India  culminated  in  Vasco  da  Gama's  suc- 
cessful voyage  around  the  southern  point  of  Africa,  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  This  achievement,  though  it  has  not 
brought  equal  laurels,  is,  judged  by  its  commercial  results, 
hardly  less  memorable  than  that  of  the  famous  Genoese. 

In  consequence  of  these  triumphs  discovery  became  a 
passion,  especially  among  the  Spaniards  and  the  Portuguese. 
Where  fame  and  wealth  so  amply  rewarded  the  successful, 
every  adventurer's  soul  felt  a  personal  summons  to  strike 
out  into  the  new  and  unknown  realms.     No  period  of  his- 


The  fever  of 

discovery. 

Magellan. 


1  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  Norsemen  discovered  America  before 
Columbus.  But  their  discovery  was  without  result.  Columbus  sailed  on 
his  voyage  August  3,  I4q2,  from  Palos,  with  three  small  ships — the  Santa 
Maria,  the  Pinta,  and  the  Nina.  He  landed  on  San  Salvador  (Guana- 
hani)  October  12.  Cuba  and  Hayti  were  also  discovered  upon  this  voy- 
age. Upon  his  return  his  sovereigns,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  loaded 
him  with  honors  (hereditary  nobility,  admiralty,  etc.).  He  followed  up 
his  first  voyage  with  three  more  voyages;  second  voyage  (1493-96),  on 
which  he  discovered  Jamaica  ;  third  voyage  (1498-1500),  on  which  he  first 
touched  upon  the  continent  of  South  America  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ori- 
noco. It  was  from  this  voyage  that  he,  the  great  benefactor  of  Spain, 
was  brought  back  to  Spain  in  chains.  On  his  fourth  voyage  (1502-4)  he 
landed  on  the  coast  of  Honduras.  He  died,  1506,  near  Valladolid,  be- 
lieving to  the  last  that  he  had  reached  India. 


Modern  Europe 


tory  is  so  astir  with  action  and  enterprise,  so  illumined  by 
the  purple  light  of  romance.  Probably  every  voyage  in- 
creased the  store  of  the  world's  knowledge,  but  of  all  the 
later  expeditions,  the  one  which,  by  virtue  of  its  boldness 
and  its  results,  may  claim  a  place  beside  those  of  Colum- 
bus and  Vasco  da  Gama,  is  the  famous  first  circumnaviga- 
tion of  the  globe.  This  remarkable  triumph  was  achieved 
by  a  Portuguese  in  the  Spanish  service,  Magellan,'  after  a 
succession  of  incredible  hardships  lasting  three  years  (1519- 
1522). 

One  of  the  most  notable  facts  in  connection  with  the  voy- 
The  world  ages  of  discovery  was  that  the  Europeans  were  not  satisfied 
^een  Portii-  ^^^  a  mere  acquaintance  with  the  new  countries  or  with 
gal  and  Spain,  opening  up  new  markets  for  the  home  traders;  they  also 
resolved  to  Christianize,  govern,  and  colonize  their  dis- 
coveries ;  in  a  word,  they  resolved  to  refashion  them  as  a 
larger  Europe.  Naturally  the  zeal  for  colonial  expansion, 
which  almost  immediately  rose  to  extravagant  proportions, 
led  to  shameless  land-grabbing,  and  soon  to  quarrels  among 
the  rival  nations.  Spain  and  Portugal,  the  leaders  in  the 
movement,  were  the  first  to  become  involved  in  difficulties 
with  one  another,  and  their  disputes  brought  about  a  famous 
intervention  by  Pope  Alexander  VI.  (Borgia).  In  the  fif- 
teenth century  the  Pope,  as  Christ's  Vicar,  was  still  reverent- 
ly regarded  as  the  peacemaker,  the  best  arbiter  of  quarrels 
arising  among  the  Christian  flock.  Upon  being  appealed 
to  by  Spain  and  Portugal  for  a  settlement  of  their  rival 
claims,  he  drew  (1493)  a  line  of  demarcation,  first  one 
hundred  leagues  and  later  three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues 
west  of  the  Cape  Verde  islands,  and  gave  all  the  land  to 
be  discovered  east  of  this  line  to  Portugal,  all  west  of  it  to 
Spain.     This  line  of  demarcation,  which  cut  through  the 


>  Magellan  did  not  himself  complete  the  voyage.     He  was  killed  on 
one  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  1521. 


Introduction 


eastern  part  of  South  America,  secured  to  Spain  the  whole 
of  the  New  World  with  the  exception  of  what  is  now 
Brazil. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  chief  cen- 
tres of  Spanish  colonization  were :  (i)  The  West  India  The  Spanish 
group,  whither  Columbus  himself  had  first  directed  the  ^^  oni^s. 
stream  of  immigration  ;  (2)  Mexico,  which  was  won  for  the 
Spaniards  by  the  great  conqueror,  Cortez ;  and  (3)  Peru, 
which  was  acquired  by  Pizarro.  The  plain  facts  of  the  two 
last  named  conquests  make  many  a  mediaeval  adventure 
of  Arthur's  knights  and  Charlemagne's  paladins  drop  by 
comparison  to  the  level  of  bare  prose. 

Hernando  Cortez  sailed  from  Cuba  in  the  year  15 19,  and  Cortez  lands 
having  landed  upon  the  continent  at  Vera  Cruz,  ordered,  1519.^^^^°' 
as  his  first  step,  the  destruction  of  the  fleet  which  secured 
him  and  his  men  a  refuge  in  case  of  disaster.  Then  he 
turned  his  face  resolutely  toward  his  enterprise.  Six  hun- 
dred Spanish  foot-soldiers,  16  horsemen,  14  cannons,  and 
200  Indians  made  up  his  force. 

The  country  of  Mexico  was  inhabited  by  various  Indian  The  condition 
tribes  in  a  comparatively  advanced  condition  of  civilization. 
The  largest  tribe,  which  lent  its  name  to  the  loose  polit- 
ical confederation  in  which  these  red  men  lived,  was  the 
Aztecs.  To  them  belonged  the  privilege  of  furnishing  the 
war  chief  of  the  league.  Though  they  were,  in  their  own 
•country,  held  to  be  great  warriors,  they  seem  to  have  been 
at  heart  a  gentle  and  superstitious  people.  The  most  in- 
teresting facts  about  them  are  the  following :  they  lived  in 
large  communal  houses  ;  engaged  in  a  kind  of  sun-worship 
which  involved  colossal  human  sacrifices  (30,000  and  even 
70,000  victims  at  one  time  are  mentioned  in  this  connec- 
tion) ;  practised,  by  means  of  an  extensive  net-work  of 
canals,  a  developed  agriculture,  the  chief  products  of  which 
were  corn  and  cotton ;  and  cultivated  an  attractive  art  which 


of  Mexico. 


8  Modern  Europe 


of  Mexico. 


found  its  best  expression  in  gold  and  silver  work  and  in  a 
richly  variegated  pottery. 

The  conquest  Cortez  was  much  favored  in  his  plans  of  conquest  by  a 
fortunate  alliance  with  an  Indian  tribe  of  the  coast,  the 
Tlascalans,  who  lived  in  mortal  feud  with  the  Aztecs.  Be- 
cause of  the  help  rendered  by  the  Tlascalans  the  inland 
march  of  Cortez  met  with  little  or  no  opposition.  The 
tribal  chief  of  the  Aztecs,  Montezuma,  or  Emperor  Mon- 
tezuma, as  the  Spaniards  called  him,  seized  with  a  feeling 
of  religious  awe  for  the  white  conquerors  who  had  come 
across  the  unknown  waters,  even  made  the  adventurers  wel- 
come in  Mexico,  his  capital  city.  There  the  unappeasable 
greed  of  the  Spaniards  soon  occasioned  quarrels  with  the 
natives.  The  imprisonment  of  Montezuma,  impudently  or- 
dered one  day  by  Cortez,  snapped  the  last  bond  of  friend- 
ship between  the  Aztecs  and  their  rude  guests.  Unable 
to  cope  with  a  general  rising,  the  Spanish  general  found  it 
necessary  to  evacuate  the  city.  His  position  in  Mexico, 
already  precarious  enough,  was  rendered  seemingly  hopeless 
at  this  juncture  by  the  arrival  of  a  second  Spanish  force 
which  the  governor  of  Cuba,  jealous  of  his  countryman's 
achievements,  had  sent  against  him,  with  orders  to  treat  him 
as  a  rebel.  But  Cortez's  undaunted  spirit  rose  victorious 
over  all  his  difficulties.  He  first  defeated  his  Spanish  rival, 
then  returning  with  all  the  forces  he  could  muster  to  the 
capital  city  of  Mexico,  he  took  it  after  a  four  weeks*  siege. 
Forthwith  opposition  ceased  ;  whereupon  Cortez,  having 
executed  the  last  emperor  and  successor  of  Montezuma, 
Guatimozin,  assumed  the  rulership  of  all  Mexico  in  the 
name  of  his  king  (1521). 

The  conquest  The  conquest  of  Peru  by  Francisco  Pizarro  (1532)  is  a 
similar  romantic  story  of  difficulties  faced  with  equanimity, 
of  revolting  crime  against  innocent  and  peaceful  natives, 
pf  stout  endurance  and  heroism.     The  civilization  of  the 


of  Peru. 


Introduction  9 


Indians  of  Peru  was  even  in  advance  of  that  of  the  Aztecs. 
The  government  was  a  sort  Of  oligarchy,  exercised  by 
the  Incas,  one  of  whom  was  regularly  chosen  chief  Inca  or 
king.  Pizarro,  like  Cortez,  was  favored  in  his  enterprise 
by  circumstances.  When  he  invaded  Peru,  he  found  the 
country  in  the  confusion  of  civil  war,  occasioned  by  the 
rival  claims  of  two  brother  Incas,  Huascar  and  Atahualpa. 
Atahualpa  had  lately  defeated  his  brother  and  taken  him 
prisoner.  In  spite  of  the  local  turmoil,  the  odds  against 
the  Spaniards  were  overwhelming  and  could  only  be  over- 
come by  audacity.  Pizarro,  however,  cruel,  unscrupulous, 
a  character  of  iron,  was  the  very  man  whoni  the  situation 
required.  With  a  large  Peruvian  army  looking  on,  he 
boldly  took  its  chief,  Atahualpa,  prisoner.^  As  soon  as  the 
terrorized  Inca  had  filled  his  prison  chamber  with  gold  and 
silver,  in  payment  of  his  stipulated  ransom,  Pizarro  treach- 
erously ignoring  his  promises,  slew  the  prince  and  seized 
the  country. 

The  Portuguese  travellers,  who  followed  in  the  wake  of 
Vasco  da  Gama,  soon  undertook,  after  the  fashion  of  Spain,  The  Portu 
to  bind  to  the  home  country  by  means  of  colonies  the  coun- 
tries which  they  had  discovered  in  the  Indian  Ocean.  The 
chain  of  colonies,  which  they  had  been  engaged  for  some 
time  in  establishing  along  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  was  grad- 
ually extended  to  the  East  Indian  Archipelago,  to  India 
proper,  and  Farther  India.  The  Portuguese,  who  were  not 
a  numerous  people,  never  succeeded  in  settling  these  coun- 
tries with  their  own  race  in  such  force  as  to  supplant  the  na- 
tive element.  They  themselves  understood  this  difficulty 
before  long,  and  thereafter  were  satisfied  with  merely  occu- 
pying advance-posts  here  and  there,  and  with  trying  to  se- 


guese  colo- 
nies. 


1  The  exact  figures  of  Pizarro's  army  are  the  most  significant  comment 
on  his  surprising  conquest  of  Peru.  He  had  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  foot-soldiers  and  sixty-seven  horsemen. 


lO 


Modern  Europe 


^'he  English 
voyages. 


The  French 
colonies. 


cure  by  treaties  exclusive  trade-privileges  with  the  peoples 
among  whom  they  settled.  With  Brazil,  their  one  pos- 
session in  the  western  world,  the  case  was  different. 
This  country  they  succeeded  in  winning  for  their  nation, 
and  it  has  remained  Portuguese  in  tongue  and  manners  to 
this  day. 

The  northern  European  countries  entered  late,  and  with 
only  gradually  increasing  fervor,  into  the  contest  for  the 
possession  of  the  new  continents.  The  little  which  Henry 
VII.  of  England  did  to  secure  for  his  country  a  share  in  the 
great  extension  of  the  world  is  of  importance  only  by  rea- 
son of  consequences  which  he  did  not  remotely  foresee. 
In  1497,  Henry,  jealous  of  Pottugal  and  Spain,  at  last 
equipped  and  sent  westward  one  John  Cabot,  who  was,  like 
Columbus,  a  Genoese  by  birth.  Cabot's  purpose,  as  well  as 
that  of  many  English  mariners  after  him,  was  to  discover  still 
another  passage,  a  passage  by  the  waters  of  the  northwest, 
to  the  oriental  fairy-land,  India,  and  by  this  means  to  elude 
the  Spaniards,  who  were  pushing  for  this  same  India  by  fol- 
lowing a  southwesterly  course.  The  attempts  of  Cabot 
were  destined  to  failure,  but  England  by  means  of  them  se- 
cured at  least  a  vague  claim  to  the  northeastern  coast  of 
America.  This  claim,  after  being  allowed  to  lie  forgotten 
for  a  period,  was  revived  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth 
and  led  in  the  progress  of  time  to  the  foundation  of  the 
English  colonies  of  North  America. 

The  French  were  even  more  lax  than  the  English  in  the 
matter  of  colonization,  and  it  was  not  until  the  reign  of 
Henry  IV.  (i 589-1610)  that  they  remembered  that  an 
empire  was  being  divided  without  consideration  of  them- 
selves. They  then  hastened  to  undo  as  far  as  possible  the 
consequences  of  their  neglect  by  settlements  in  Canada,  and, 
later,  in  Louisiana,  that  is,  in  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Missis- 
sippi basins. 


Introduction  1 1 


The  Dutch  owed  their  colonies  to  the  long  war  of  inde-  The  Dutch 
pendence  which  they  waged  with  the  king  of  Spain.  In 
1580  Portugal,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  was  temporarily- 
incorporated  with  Spain,  the  Portuguese  colonies,  in  con- 
sequence of  this  act,  becoming  Spanish.  The  Dutch  there- 
upon began  to  take  away  from  the  king  of  Spain  both  the 
Portuguese  and  the  Spanish  East-India  trade  and  territory. 
This  fact  explains  why  the  centre  of  the  Dutch  trade  and 
colonial  territory  lies  to  this  day  in  the  Indian  Ocean. 
\ 

C.    THE    EUROPEAN   STATES   AT   THE    BEGINNING   OF   THE 
MODERN    PERIOD. 

The  Empire. 

The  Holy  Roman  Empire,  at  one  time  dominant  over 
Europe,  had  practically  been  reduced  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Modern  Period  to  the  national  state  of  Germany. 
About  the  year  1500,  therefore,  the  words  Empire  and 
Germany  have,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  become  inter- 
changeable terms. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Modern  Period  Maximilian  I.  Theconstitu- 
(1493-1519),  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  was  the  head  of  Germany. 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  The  family  of  Hapsburg  had 
grown  so  powerful  in  the  fifteenth  century  that  the  German 
crown  had  almost  become  its  hereditary  possession.  Theo- 
retically, however,  the  crown  was  still  elective.  On  the 
death  of  an  emperor,  a  successor  could  be  legally  chosen 
only  by  the  seven  electors,  who  were  the  seven  greatest 
princes  of  the  realm.^  The  seven  electors,  the  lesser  princes 
(including  the  higher  ecclesiastical  dignitaries,  such  as 
bishops  and  abbots),  and  the  free  cities,  ranged  in  three 

1  Of  these  seven  electors  three  were  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  and  four 
were  lay  princes.  The  seven  were  :  the  archbishops  of  Mainz,  of  Co- 
logne, and  of  Trier  (Treves),  the  king  of  Bohemia,  the  duke  of  Saxony, 
the  margrave  of  Brandenburg,  and  the  count  palatine  of  the  Rhine. 


12  Modem  Europe 


separate  houses,  composed  the  imperial  Diet.  The  Diet 
was  the  legislative  body  of  the  Empire,  without  the  consent 
of  which  the  emperor  could  not  perform  any  important  act. 
Emperor  and  Diet  together  constituted  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment, if  machinery,  as  decrepit  as  the  machinery  of 
the  Empire  had  come  to  be,  may  be  qualified  by  that  name. 
In  fact,  the  national  government  of  Germany  was  little 
more  than  a  glorious  memory.  Germany  had  not,  like 
France,  England,  and  Spain,  advanced  steadily  in  the  later 
Middle  Age  toward  national  unity,  but  had  steadily  trav- 
elled in  the  opposite  direction  and  lost  her  coherence. 
The  numerous  princes,  margraves,  counts,  prince-bishops, 
and  free  cities,  constituting  the  so-called  "  estates  "  of  the 
mediaeval  feudal  realm,  had  acquired  a  constantly  increas- 
ing independence  of  the  central  power,  and  had  reduced  the 
emperor  to  a  puppet.^ 
The  attempted  The  greatest  interest  attaching  to  Maximilian's  reign  is 
Maximilian.  connected  with  the  circumstance,  that  under  him  the  last 
serious  attempt  was  made  to  remodel  the  antiquated  ma- 
chinery of  the  imperial  government.  In  the  latter  half  of 
the  fifteenth  century  something  like  a  wave  of  national  en- 
thusiasm had  swept  over  Germany.  Voices  had  been  raised 
throughout  the  land  for  reform,  and  sustained  by  these  mani- 
festations, Maximilian  and  his  Diet  undertook  to  reinvigor- 
ate  and  modernize  the  constitution.  In  1495  a  Diet  met  at 
Worms  to  discuss  the  measures  to  be  taken.  The  result  was 
a  miserable  disappointment ;  for  what  was  done  did  not  effect 
any  substantial  change  in  the  position  of  the  central  author- 
ity, the  emperor.  Such  reform  as  was  carried  out  limited 
itself  to  the  establishment  of  the  greater  internal  security  of 


1  There  were  at  this  time  about  three  hundred  of  these  local  govern- 
ments, some,  like  Saxony  and  Brandenburg,  large  enough  to  be  respect- 
able, others  as  circumscribed  as  an  American  township.  Germany  was 
visibly  verging  toward  a  time  when  she  would  be  decomposed,  in  fact 
and  in  law,  into  three  hundred  independent  states. 


Introduction  1 3 


the  realm.  The  ri^ht  of  private  warfare,  the  most  insuffer- 
able survival  of  feudal  times,  was  abolished,  and  a  perpetual 
peace  (ewiger  Landfrieden)  proclaimed.  To  support  this 
peace  there  was  instituted  a  special  court  of  justice,  the  Im- 
perial Chamber  (Reichskammergericht),  to  which  all  con- 
flicts between  the  estates  of  the  realm  had  to  be  referred 
for  amicable  adjustment.  Later  the  Empire  was  divided, 
in  order  to  assure  the  execution  of  the  verdicts  of  the 
Imperial  Chamber  and  for  the  greater  safety  of  the  realm 
against  external  and  internal  foes,  ^ilitp  ten  administrative 
districts.  This  is  the  largest  measure  of  reform  which  the 
local  governments  in  control  of  the  Diet  would,  out  of  jeal- 
ousy of  the  central  government,  concede.  The  emperor  was 
left  as  before  without  an  income,  without  any  administrative 
functions,  and  without  an  army.  He  was  and  remained  as 
long  as  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  continued  to  exist,^  a  poor 
lay-figure,  draped  for  merely  scenic  purposes  in  the  mantle 
of  royalty.  (If  we  hear  of  powerful  emperors  in  the  future 
(Charles  V.  ,Vor  instance),  we  shall  discover  that  they  owed 
their  power,  never  to  the  Empire,  but  always  to  the  force 
which  they  derived  from  their  hereditary  lands.  In  their 
hereditary  lands  they  were  what  they  could  never  be  in  the 
Empire,  effective  masters,  j 

Maximilian,  sometimes  called  the  last  knight,  was  a  kind,   The 
generous  man,  who  might  have  been  spared  the  various  mis-  ^^^^^ 
fortunes  of  his  life,  if  he  had  not  taken  the  Empire  and  its   <^^aries  V". 
threadbare  splendors  seriously.      He  tried  to  make  good 
the  ancient  imperial  claims  to  parts  of  Italy  and  naturally 
met  with  derision ;  he  tried  to  miite  Europe  against  the 
Turks  who  had  overrun  the  east  (fall  of  Constantinople, 
1453)   ^i^d  were  moving  westward  up    the   Danube  and 
along  the  Mediterranean,  but  he  could  not  even  influence  his 


» Napoleon  put  an  end  to  theHoly  Roman  Empire  jni8o6. 


14  Modern  Europe 


own  Germans  to  a  national  war  of  defence.^  However,  a 
number  of  matrimonial  bargains  , richly  compensated  Max- 
imilian for  his  many  political  disappointments.  In  the  year 
1477  he  married  Mary  of  Burgundy,  the  only  child  of 
Charles  the  Bold  and  the  heiress  of  the  Netherlands,  and  in 
1496  his  snn_Phihp  was  united  to  Joan  of  Castile,  daughter 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  first  joint-rulers  of  united  Spain. 
PhiHp  dying  and  Joan  becoming  insane,  their  son.  Charges 
was  proclaimed,  first,  duke  of  Burgundy,  and,  later,  on  the 
death  of  Ferdinand  (15 16),  king  of  Spain.  Finally,  when 
the  Emperor  Maximilian  died  (15 19)  Charles,  fell Jiei^  alsc) 
to^A^ustria^  and  soon  after  was  elected,  in  consequence  of 
his  great  position,  to  succeed  his  grandfather  in  the  Em- 
pire^ The  new  emperor  adopted  the  title  ol  Charles  V.'^ 
Unluckily  for  Charles  V.  there  had,  just  before  Maximil- 
ian's death,  broken  out  the  ^reat  Church  schism,  known  as 
the  Reformation.  Owing  to  his  training  Charles's  impulse 
was  to  treat  the  Reformation  slightingly.  But  the  Refor- 
mation was  destined  none  the  less  to  be  the  rock  upon 
which  his  power  was  shattered  to  pieces. 

Italy. 

Italy,  at  the  end  of  the  Middle  Age,  had  fallen  into  even 

worse  confusion  than  Germany,  for  the  very  semblance  of 

The  five  lead-  national  unity  had  been  abandoned.     There  were  upon  the 

ing states.  peninsula  fivejeading  states:   the  duchy  of  Milan,  the  re- 

■^publicof  Venice,  the  republic  of  Florence,  the  states  of  the 

L  -    ~  .Church,  and  th^ingdom  of  Naples.     The  numerous  small 

^0^"^  states,  like  Savoy  and  Ferrara,  were  too  inconsiderable  to 

play  a  political  role.     During  the  fifteenth  century  the  five 

leading  states  had  been  constantly  engaged  in  wars  among 

>  In  consequence  of  the  indiflference  of  Europe,  the  Turks  remained  for 
the  next  two  hundred  years  the  most  dangerous  of  all  the  enemies  which 
the  House  of  Hapsburg  had  to  encounter. 

2  A§  king  of  Spain  he  is  Charles  I. 


Introduction  1 5 


themselves.  These  wars  did  no  great  harm  until  it  occurred 
to  the  kings  of  Spain  and  France  to  turn  the  local  divisions 
of  Italy  to  their  personal  advantage.  Spain  at  the  end  of 
th^Jifteenth  century  already  j)ossessed  the  islands  of  Sar- 
dinia  and  Sicily^  and  its  royal  House  was  closely  related  to 
the  ruling  House  of  Naples.  Through  these  connections 
Spain  acquired  an  active  interest  in  Italian  affairs.  Unfor- 
tunately for  Italy,  France  also  became  interested  in  Italian 
affairs,  when  upon  the  death  of  the  last  Anjou  (1481),^  such 
rights  as  the  Anjou  possessed  to  Naples  were  transferred  to 
the  king  of  France.  Charles  VIII.  of  France  resolved  on 
his  accession  to  power  to  make  good  his  claims  upon  Naples 
by  force,  and  in  1494  he  made  his  famous  invasion  of 
Italy.  It  was  the  first  foreign  interference  in  the  affairs  of 
the  peninsula  since  the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance  and 
became  the  prelude  to  Italy's  decay  and  enslavement. 
Spain  beings  of  course,  unable  to  permit  without  opposition 
the  extension  of  France,  there  began  in  consequence  that 
contest  between  the  two  rivals  for  the  possession  of  Italy, 
which  lasted  for  over  fifty  years  and  ended  in  the  complete 
victory  of  Spain.  At  the  beginning  of  our  period  this  re- 
sult was  not  yet  apparent.  But  within  a  few  years  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  French-Spanish  wars,  the  states  of  Italy, 
overrun  and  plundered  by  superior  forces,  commenced  to 
exhibit,  material  alterations  in  their  political  status. 

iV<7//(fj-.4— If  Naples,  as  it  was  the  first,  had  remained  the 
only  source  of  quarrel  between  France  and  Spain,  peace 
might  soon  have  been  reestablished.  For,  after  having 
been  traversed  again  and  again  by  French  and  Spanish 
troops,  the  kingdom  of  Naples_  was  definitely  ceded  by /Naples 
France  to  jpain  (1504),  of  which  it  was  destined  to  re-(  |p'Sn'^?504. 
main  a  part  for  two  hundred   years   (till    the  Treaty  of 

'  The  Anjou  were  a  secondary  branch  of  the  royal  House  of  France  and 
had  an  old  claim  to  the  kingdom  of  Naples. 


1 6  Modern  Europe 


Utrecht,  17 13).  Unfortunately,  a  second  bone  of  con- 
tention between  the  two  great  western  monarchies  was 
foundiiithe  duchy  of  Milan. 

/{Milan^^p-The  duchy  of  Milan  was  legally  a  fief  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  but  was  held  at  this  time  in  practi- 
Struggle  be-      cally  independent  possession  by  the  family  of  the  Sforza. 
and  Spain  for    When  Charles  VII I.  of  France  died  in  1498,  Louis  XII., 
of\iiian^^^'°'^  ^^^  successor,  remembered  that  he  was  a  descendant  of  a 
'  family,  the  Visconti,  who  had  ruled  in  Milan  before  the 

Sforza.  On  the  strength  of  this  vague  priority,  Louis  re- 
solved to  supplant  the  Sforza  upstart.  Having  invaded  and 
conquered  Milan  in  1499,  he  held  that  city  successfully 
until  there  was  formed  against  him  the  HolvLeague, 
composed  of  the  Pope,  Venice,  Spain,  and  England  (15 12). 
The  Holy  League  quickly  succeeded  in  driving  the  French 
out  of  Italy  and  in  reinstating  the  Sforza  family  in  their 
duchy.  Louis  XII.  died  in  15 15,  without  having  recon- 
quered Milan,  but  his  successor,  Francis  I^,  immediately 
upon  his  accession,  marched  his  army  off  to  Italy  to  try  in 
his  turn  the  fortunes  of  war  and  conquest.  His  brilliant  vic- 
tory of  Marignano  Ti'^i'^)  a^ain  put  the  French  in  posses- 
'  sion  of  Milan.  For  a  short  time  now  there  was  peace 
between  France  and  Spain  ;  but  naturally  the  Spaniards 
saw  with  envy  the  extension  of  French  influence  over  the 
north  of  Italy,  and  when  Charles,  king  of  Spain,  was  elected 
emperor  in  15 19,  the  necessary  pretext  for  renewing  the 
war  with  France  was  given  into  their  hands,  k  has  already 
been  said  that  Milan  was  legally  a  fief  of  the  Empire. 
In  his  capacity  of  emperor,  Charles  could  find  a  ready  justi- 
fication  for  interfering  in  the  affairs  of  his  dependency. 
Immediately  upon  his  election  he  resolved  to  challenge  the 
right  of  the  French  to  Milan,  and  so  the  French-Spanish 
wars  in  Italy  were  renewed. 

^«/V^.— In  the  fifteenth  century  Venice  was  the  strong- 


Introduction  ly 


est  of  all  the  Italian  states.     She  called  herself  a  republic,    Venice  begins 
but  was  more  truly  an  oligarchy,  the  power  lying  in  the  -P~^^' 
hands  of  the  nobles  who  composed  the  Great  Council  and 
elected  the  chief  dignitary,  the  doge  or  duke.      The  power  of 
Venice  was  due  to  her  immense  trade  and  possessions  in  the 
Orient.  ^     In  addition  to  these  colonial  territories  she  held 


the  whqlejiprtheastern  portion  of  Italy^  ^he  Renaissance 
Period  is  the  period  of  the  glory  of  Venice  ;'\at  the  beginning 
of  the  Modern  Period  that  glory  was  already  rapidly  waning. 
The  first  obstacle  to  the  continued  prosperity  of  Venice  was 
furnished  by  the  Turks.  I  The  Turks  having  begun  their  irre- 
sistible march  through  western  Asia  and  eastern  Europe, 
unsparingly  wrenched  from  Venice,  bit  by  bit,  her  oriental 
trade  and  possessions.^  The  second  misfortune  which  befell 
Venice  was  the  discovery  by  Vasco  da  Gama  of  the  sea- 
passage  to  India  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  This 
discovery,  by  drawing  off  the  oriental  commerce  to  Spain 
and  Portugal,  struck  a  fatal  blow  at  Venetian  prosperity. 
And  to  these  reverses  in  the  east  were  added  reverses  in  the 


west.  Because  Venice  had  followed  in  the  wars  of  Italy  a 
treacherous  and  selfish  policy,  she  had  won  the  hatred  of 
all  parties.  Finally  they  agreed  to  revenge  themselves.  In 
1508,  the  emperor,  the  Pope,  France,  and  Spain,  formed 
the  formidable  League  of  Cambrai  against  her  for  the  pur- 
pose of  compassing  her  destruction.  Although  she  managed 
by  timely  concessions  to  save  herself  from  the  noose  which 
had  been  flung  about  her  neck,  she  never  again  recovered 
her  former  prestige.  The  republic  of  Venice  continued  to 
decline  during  the  whole  Modern  Period,  but  lived  in  some 
fashion  or  other  till  Napoleon  made  an  end  of  it  in  the 
year  179.7. 
^J^/orence.}—The  repubhc  of  Florence,   far-famed  in  the 

1  She  held  the  Morea,  Candia,  Cyprus,  and  most  of  the  islands  of  the 
^gean  and  loniaiTSeas. 


t8 


Modern  Europe 


Florence  \ 
subjected  to  ' 
the  Medici. 


The  states  of 
the  Church 
acquire  soli- 
darity. 


period  of  the  Renaissance  for  its  great  artijjs_and_writers, 
had,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  lost  its  free  constitution  and 
fallen  under  the  domination  of  a  native  family,  the  Medici 
(Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  the  greatest  of  the  line,  ruled 
from  1469  to  1492).  ^ut  in  spite  of  the  Medici  the  love 
for  the  republic  remained  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  When,  therefore,  the  invasion  of  Charles  VIII. 
(1494)  offered  a  chance  to  cast  off  the  Medicean  yoke,  the 
people  rose,  banished  their  tyrants,  and  reestablished  the 
republic.  Girolamo  Savonarola,  a  pious  monk,  who  had, 
through  his  stirring  invectives  against  the  general  corrup- 
tion of  manners,  acquired  a  great  following,  became  the 
popular  hero  and  leader.  For  four  years  he  controlled  the 
government,  and  labored  at  the  reform  of  morals.  During 
the  period  of  ^aA[onarola's_supremacyj  Florence  presented 
to  her  astonished  contemporaries  who  dwelt  upon  the  free 
heights  of  the  pagan  Renaissance,  the  picture  of  a  narrow 
Biblical^jtheocracy.  But  in  1498  Savonarola's  enemies 
compassed  his  overthrow  and  burned  him  at  the  stake.  For 
a  few  more  years  the  republic  went  on  as  best  it  could, 
until  in  1512  the  Medici  reconquered  the  city.  In  1527 
the  Florentines  made  a  last  attempt  to  regain  their  liberties. 
Again  they  cast  the  Medici  out,  but  again  the  banished 
princes  returned,  this  time  with  the  help  of  Charles  V. 
(1529),  who  now  honored  the  head  of  the  Medicean 
House,  Alexander,  by  conferring  upon  him  and  his  heirs, 
Florence  and,her_territoryLjinder  the,  name  of  the  duchy 
>f  Tuscany. 

-During  the  period  of  the  Re- 


(later  the  grand  djachy^ 

Th^^^tatesqfthe  ChurcJu^ 
naissance,  the  Popes,  becoming  pagan  like  the  rest  of  the 
world,  sacrificed  every^  pnnciple  to^  the  desire  of  being 
brilliant  seculai^jprjiices.  Their  dominant  aspiration  was 
to  consolidate  the  territory  of  the  Church.  This  territory, 
running  across  the  middle  of  the  peninsula,  formed  an  ex- 


Introduction  19 


tensive  possession,  but  had  unfortunately  fallen  in  large 
part  into  the  hands  of  petty_  tyrants.  Pope  Alexander  VI. 
(149 2- 1 503)  of  the  family  or~Borgia,  infamous  for  his 
murders  and  excesses,  has  the  merit  of  having  carried  the 
papal  policy  to  a  successful  issue.  Through  the  unscrupu- 
lous agency  of  his  son  CaesarBorgia,  the  petty  tyrants  of  the 
papal  states  were  either  poisoned  or  assassinated.  Thus 
at  last  the  Pope  became  master  in  the  hereditary  domin- 
ion of  St.  Peter. 

Alexander  VI.  was  followed  by  two  Popes,  who,  if  they 
are  not  great  spiritual  lights,  have  nevertheless  attractive 
personalities.  They  are  Juhus  II.  (1503-13)  and  Leo  X. 
(15 13-21),  the  latter  a  member  of  the  famous  Florentine 
family  of  the  Medici.  Both  of  these  Popes  will  always  be 
remembered  for  their  splendid  patronage  of  the  arts.^  It 
was  during  the  papacy  of  Leo  X..  whose  interests  were 
literary,  artistic,  social,  in  short,  everything  but  religious, 
and  whose  nature  and  associations  inclined  him  to  a  pagan 
conception  of  life,  that  there  w£fe  raised  in  Germany  the 
cry  for  reform  which  led  to  the  Protestant  schism. 
<^avoy,—\xi  northwestern  Italy,  on  the  border  of  France, 
lay  among  the  Alps  the  duchy  of  Savoy.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  Modern  Period  the  duke  of  Savoy  was  not  yet  an 
influential  power.  But  during  the  next  centuries  he  grew 
stronger  and  stronger  through  perseverance  and  hardihood, 
until  finally  his  power  surpassed  that  of  any  other  prince  of 
Italy.  In  our  own  century  the  House  of  Savov  has  become 
the  royal  House  of  united  Italy. 


^  Church  of  St.  Peter  begun  ;  Michel  Angelo  and  Raffaelle  at  Rome. 


20  Modern  Europe 


^'  /<'m  n  France.  p  ^  • 

Theunifica-  Under  Charles  VII.  (1422-61)  and  Louis  XI.  (1461- 

France.  83)  France  had  lost  her  old  feudal  character  and  become  an 

absolute  monarchy.  The  great  dukes  and  counts  had  been 
forced  into  submission  to  the  will  of  the  king.  The  king 
had  become  master ;  he  had  secured  himself  a  revenue 
over  which  he  had  free  disposal  (through  a  land-tax  called 
taille)  and  he  had  created  a  standing  army,  which  was 
atnis  and  not  at  the  nobles'  orders?  Ilouis  XL  also  added 
to  France  several  outlying  provinces,  which  were  neces- 
sary to  the  completion  of  the  nation.  These  were\Prov- 
ence^in  the  southeast  and  the  duch^  of  feui^undy^n  the 
^easT.  When  his  son  Charles  ¥1117  (1483-98)  acquired 
LBrittany  in  the  northwest,  the  process  of  the  unification  of 
France  may  be  said  to  have  been  completed.  She  was  now 
composed  intejnally  under  the  constitution  of  the  absolute 
king,  in  a  manner  which  had  not  been  possible  in  feudal 
times,  and  she  was  united  and  strong  to  act  against  exter- 
nal^foes.  Under  these  circumstances  Charles  VIIL  could 
afford  to  turn  his  thoughts  to  foreign  conquest.  Burning 
with  ambition  he  undertook  to  conquer  Naples  on  the 
strength  of  certain  inherited  claims,  and  invaded  Italy 
(1494).  But  his  policy  of  foreign  conquest  incited 
the  hostility  of  his  jealous  neighbor  Spain,  and  led  to  the 
great  French-Spanish  wars  for  the  possession  of  Italy,  which 
lasted  with  occasional  interruptions  for  fifty  years.  The 
review  of  Italy  has  acquainted  us  with  the  early  stages  of 
this  conflict.  Charles  VIIL,  after  a  brief  triumph,  was 
forced  to  give  up  Naples.  Finally  it  was  ceded  to  Ferdi- 
nand of  Spain  (1504).  Louis  XII.  of  France  (1498-15 15) 
renewed  the  struggle  in  Italy  by  laying  hold  of  the 
duchy  of  Milan,  and  though  he  was  forced  to  give  up 
Milan  in  15 12  (the  Holy  League),  his  successor,  Francis  I. 


Introduction  2 1 


(1515-47),  immediately  reconquered  it  by  the  victory  of 

Marignano  (15 15). 

•^      —  - —  "*  ^ 

Spain. 

The  movement  toward  national  unity  and  absolutism.  The 
just  observed  in  France,  is  no  less  characteristic  of  the  po-  of  Spaisr^* 
litical  development,  during  the  fifteenth  century,  of  Spain. 
The  unity  of  Spain,  after  having  made  steady  progress  for 
some  centuries,  was  finally  secured  by  the  marriage  of  Fer- 
dinand (147 9- 151 6)  and  Isabella  (i 474-1 504),  who  were 
the  heirs  respectively  of  the  two  largest  Christian  king- 
doms on  the  peninsula,  Aragon  and  Castile.  Both  of  these 
kingdoms  had  grown  strong  by  championing  the  national 
cause  against  the  Moors,  who  had,  in  the  Middle  Age,  over- 
run the  peninsula.  In  the  year  1492  Granada,  the  last  foot- 
hold of  the  Moors,  was  captured,  and,  therewith,  the  Mo^ 
hammedan  power  in  Spain,  which  had  lasted  for  eight 
centuries,  came  to  an  end. 

The  unification  of  Spain  inaugurated  a  period  of  terri-  The 
torial  expansion  which  is  unparalleled  in  history.  In  the  l^ain. 
same  year  in  which  the  Moorish  kingdom  fell,  Columbus  ^a  ^  -^^■ 
discovered  America,  and  opened  up  to  Spain  the  vast  do- 
minion of  the  new  world.  Next  Ferdinand,  upon  being 
drawn  into  war  with  France  on  account  of  the  conquest 
of  Naples  by  Charles  VIII.,  succeeded  in  beating  the  French 
and  seizing  the  kingdom  of  Naples  for  himself  (1504).  In 
15 1 2  he  further  acquired  that  part  of  the  border-kingdom 
of  Navarre  which  lay  upon  the  Spanish  slope  of  the  Py- 
renees. Thus  it  happened  that  when  Ferdinand  was  suc- 
ceeded upon  his  death  by  his  grandson,  Charles  I.  (1516- 
56),  this  young  king  found  himself  master  of  the  most  exten- 
sive territories  of  the  world.  Although  Charles  was,  merely 
by  virtue  of  his  position  as  king  of  Spain,  the  leading  sov- 
ereign ofJEyrope,  he  had  additional  interests  and  resources 


22  Modern  Europe 


as  ruler  of  the  Netherlands  and  archduke  of  Austria,  which 
raised  him    far    above   any    rival.     Finally   in    15 19,  the 
electors  of  the  Eni^ire  made  him  emperor. 
X  The  growth  of  the  royal  power  had  meanwhile  kept  pace 

Absolutism  with  the  extension  of  Spain.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  with 
Inquisition.  .  the  aid  of  the  cities  put  down  the  robber-knights  and  thus 
secured  the  peace  of  the  land.  Then  the  monarchs  turned 
their  attention  to  the  nobility.  The  feudal  Parliament  of 
Castile  (called  Cortes)  was  first  restricted  in  its  influence, 
and  then  robbed  of  all  importance.  The  Parliament  of  Ara- 
gon  held  out  a  little  longer  against  the  royal  encroachments. 
But  the  act  which  more  than  any  other  registered  the  ex- 
tension of  the  central  power,  was  the  introduction  of  the 
Inquisition  for  the  persecution  of  heretics  and  of  enemies  of 
the  government — that  is,  of  Jews,  Moors,  and,  later,  Prot-~ 
estants.^  How  severely  this  organization  interpreted  its 
task,  is  witnessed  by  the  fact  that  during  the  reign  of  the 
first  Grand  Inquisitor,  Tomas  de  Torquemada  (1483-98), 
about  10,000  persons  were  ^urned  alive,^  6,000  were  burned 
in  effigy,  and  90,000  were  condemned  to  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  penalties. 

England. 

England  passed  through  momentous  vicissitudes  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  Under  an  ambitious  monarch  she  had 
become  engaged  in  apolicy  of  foreign  conquest.  But  hav- 
ing, under  Henry  V.,  conquered  France  (battle  of  Agin- 


'  It  is  necessary  to  note  that  the  horrors  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  are 
not  due  solely  to  religious  intolerance.  The  Inquisition  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  king,  also  a  political  weapon  which  he  used  to  secure  the  racial 
unity  of  the  peninsula.  It  must  be  remembered  that  Moors  and  Jews 
were  very  numerous,  and  that  they  constituted  a  real  threat  to  the  Span- 
ish domination. 

2  Christian  fanaticism  denominated  these  abominations  autos  da  fe 
(acts  of  faith).  An  auto  da  fe  was,  like  a  bull-fight,  an  occasrdn  lor  gen- 
eral merry-making. 


Introduction  23 


court,  141 5),  she  had,  under  Henry  VI.  (1422-61)  lost  all 

her  continental  possessions  again  except  Calais.    Worse  than 

this,  under  this  same  weak-spiritejd  monarch  she  was  torn  by 

civil  war.     The  House  of  York,  a  branch  of  the  reigning 

House  of  Lancaster,  ventured  to  put  forth  a  claim  to  the 

throne,  and  the  war  that  ensued,   called  the  War  of  the  The  end  of 

Roses,  lasted  until   1485.     In   1485  Richard  III.,  the  last   the  Roses° 

male  heir  of  the  House  of  York,  was  defeated  and  killed 

at  the  battle  of  Bosworth.    The  victor,  himself  of  the  House 

of  Tudor,  but,  at  the  same  time,  a  descendant  of  the  House 

of  Lancaster,    succeeded    to   the  throne   as   Henry   VII. 

(1485-1509).     Through  the  marriage  of  Henry  VII.  to 

Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  the  House  of  York,  the  new  House 

of  Tudor  united  the  claims  of  both  contending    Houses, 

and  thus  the  civil  war  came  at  length  to  an  end.  '""■^-^ — 

Under  Henrv  VII..  an  extremely  cautious  and  politic:  Henry  vii. 
man,  .there  grew  up  in  England  the  ^ ^  strong  Tudor  mon-^  "strong  mon- 
archy^    Traditionally,  the  power  in  England  lay  in  the':^!^' 

hands  of  the  King  and  the  Parliament,  composed  of  the  two 
Houses  of  the  Lords  and  the  Commons.     But  as  at  this  time 
the  House  of  Lords  was  more  influential  than  the  House  of 
Commons,  the  power  in  England  lay  practically,  as  every- 
where in -feudal  times,  with  king  and  nobles.     Now  the    i^'w...  '   " 
long  civil  war,  which  was  really  a  war  of  two  noble  factions,    ^,\  j^.(" 
had  made  great  havoc  among  the  ranks  of  the  nobility.         5  -c^  'J  ' 
Moreover  it  had  confirmed,  among  the  middle  classes,  the  • 

desire  for  peace.  The  nobility,  diminished  in  authority, 
and  the  common  people,  disposed  to  concur  in  the  repres- 
sion of  the  ruling  class,  established  a  situation  by  which  the 
king  was  resolved  to  profit.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
absolutism  was  in  the  air  at  the  time,  as  is  witnessed  by  the 
case  of  France  and  Spain.  Without  breaking  any  laws 
Henry  managed  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  importance  of 
the  second  organ  of  government,  the  Parliament,  by  the  sim- 


24  Modern  Europe 


pie  device  of  calling  it  together  as  little  as  possible.^^  Then 
he  turned  his  attention  to  the  turbulent  nobles.  By  for- 
bidding them  to  keep  armed  retainers,  he  deprived  them  of 
their  military  power,  and  by  means  of  a  special  court  of  jus- 
tice, the  celebrated  Star  Chamber,  which  he  made  dependent 
upon  himself,  he  kept  watch  over  them  and  punished  them 
for  misdemeanors.  Peace,  rapid  and  complete,  was  the  re- 
sult.  Of  course  the  credit  of  the  king  received  a  great 
augmentation.  In  fact,  England  would  have  fallen  as  com- 
pletely into  the  hands  of  her  sovereign  as  France  had  done, 
if  the  law  had  not  remained  upon  her  statute-books  that  the 
king  could  raise  no  money  without  the  consent  of  his  Par- 
liament. /This  provision  neither  Henry  VII.  nor  any  of  his 
successors ^dared  abrogate...  Thus,  although  not  always  ob- 
served, it  remained  the  law  of  the  land,  and  in  the  course 
of  time,  when  the  common  people  had  acquired  wealth  and 
dignity,  it  was  destined  to  become  the  weapon  by  which 
the  ''strong  monarchy"  was  struck  to  the  ground  and 
Parliament  set  in  the  monarch's  place. 

(It  was  chiefly  to  rid  himself  of  Parliament  and  strengthen 
the  monarchy  internally,  that  Henry  kept  clear  of  foreign 
Henry's  policy  war.     War  would  have  required  money,  and  money  would 
o  peace.  have  required  a  session  of  Parliament,  from  which  might 

have  come  an  interference  with  the  king's  free  determina- 
tions. The  reign  of  Henry  VII.  was  therefore,  with  trifling 
exceptions,  a  reign  of  peace. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.   that  Columbus 

^  ^       discovered  America.     England  was  not  yet   a  great  sea- 

'  Henry  secures  power,  but  Henry  managed  to  secure  at  least  a  claim  to  the 

NorthAmer-     "^w  world,  by  sending   out  Xohn_Xabot,  who   in    1497 

Jca-  discovered  the  continent  of  North  America. 


1  He  summoned  the  Parliament  only  twice   during  the  last   thirteen 
years  of  his  reign. 


PERIOD  I 

The  Reformation  and  the  Wars  of  Religion;  from 

Luther  to  the  Peace  of  Westphalia 

(1517-1648) 

bibliography. 

Bibliographies  of  this  and  of  the  subsequent  periods  of  Modern  His- 
tory exist  in  great  number.  The  student  is  referred  to  the  following 
works  : 

W.  F.  Allen  :   History  Topics  for  the  Use  of  High  Schools  and  Col- 
leges. 
C.  K.  Adams  :   Manual  of  Historical  Literature. 
Gardiner  and  Mullinger :   English  History  for  Students. 
Lavisse  and  Rambaud  :   Histoire  generale  du  IV«  siecle  a  nos  jours, 
ID  vols.     This  is  a  general  history  with  excellent  bibliographies 
attached  to  every  chapter. 


A  list  of  convenient  reference-books  in   English   dealing  with  the 
First  Period. 

General  Histories. 

A.  H.  Johnson  :  European  History,  1494  to  1598.  An  excellent  short 
treatise. 

G.  P.  Fisher  :  The  Reformation.  Gives  attention  to  the  theological 
side  of  the  movement. 

Hausser  :  The  Period  of  the  Reformation.  A  good  book  in  the  orig- 
inal German,  but  inadequately  translated.  Gives  attention  to  the 
political  side. 

Robertson  :    History  of  Charles  V.,  3  vols. 

Creighton :  A  History  of  the  Papacy  during  the  Period  of  the  Refor- 
mation, 4  vols. 

L.   Ranke :    History  of   the    Popes.      Especially   important    for  the 
origin  of  the  Catholic  Reaction. 
25 


26  Modern  Europe 


Special  Histories. 
Germany, 
Kostlin  :   Life  of  Luther. 
Gardiner  :  The  Thirty  Years'  War. 

The  reader  is  also  referred  to  Luther's  Table  Talk  and  to  essays  on 
Luther,  by  Carlyle  and  Froude. 

France. 
G.  B.  Adams :   The  Growth  of  the  French  Nation. 
G.  W.  Kitchin  :   History  of  France,  3  vols.     The  third  volume  treats 
of  the  Reformation. 

Great  Britain. 

J.  R.  Green  :   A  Short  History  of  the  English  People. 

S.  R.  Gardiner:  Student's  History  of  England;  Atlas  of  English 
History. 

M.  Creighton:   The  Age  of  Elizabeth. 

F.  Seebohm :   The  Oxford  Reformers. 

J.  R.  Green  :   History  of  the  English  People,  4  vols. 

J.  A.  Froude  :  History  of  England  from  the  Fall  of  Wolsey  to  the 
Death  of  Elizabeth,  12  vols.  Vivid  but  not  uniformly  trust- 
worthy. 

Burton :   History  of  Scotland,  8  vols.     Judicious  and  interesting. 

Other  Cotcntries. 
J.   L.   Motley:   Rise  of   the  Dutch  Republic;    also,   History  of   the 
United  Netherlands  ;   also,  John  of  Olden-Barneveldt. 

Novels  and  Poems. 
(Works  of  the  imagination  possessing  a  historical  basis.) 
Shakespeare :   Henry  VHI. 

Scott:    Marmion.     Lady  of  the  Lake.      Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel. 
Scott :   The  Monastery.     The  Abbot.     Kenilworth.     These  deal  with 

the  period  of  Elizabeth. 
Schiller  :    Wallenstein.    A  drama  in  three  parts. 
Reade  :   The  Cloister  and  the  Hearth.     Europe  during  the  period  of 

the  Reformation. 
George  Eliot :   Romola.     Florence  at  time  of  Savonarola. 
Manzoni :   The  Betrothed.     Italy  at  time  of  Thirty  Years'  War 
Weyman :  A  Gentleman  of  France ;   Under  the  Red  Robe. 


CHAPTER   I 

THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    REFORMATION    IN   GERMANY   TO  THE    . 
PEACE    OF    AUGSBURG    (1555) 

At  the  opening  of  the  Modern  Period,^ Europe  was  almost 
completely  inhabited  by  Christian  peoples.  The  Moham- 
medan faith  had  just  lost  its  last  stronghold  in  western 
Europe  (fall  of  Granada,  1492),  but  it  had  been  more  than 
compensated  for  this  loss  by  the  conquest,  at  about  the  same 
time,  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  by  the  Mohammedan  Turks. 
Europe  was,  however,  substantially  Christian,  and  was  di-  The  Roman 
vided  between  two  Churches,  the  Roman  and  the  Greek,  c^hufche^.'^^''^ 
These  two  Christian  Churches  had  been  originally  one, 
but  since  the.  eighth  century,  each  had  gone  its  own  way  in 
organization  and  doctrine:  The  Greek  Church,  embracing 
the  Greek  and  Slav  peoples  who  had  been  Christianized 
from  Constantinople,  the  capital  of  the  Roman  Empire  of 
the  East,  lay  practically  outside  the  circumference  of  the 
European  civilization  of  early  modern  times  and  need  not 
occupy  us  here.  The  Romah  Church,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  the  church  of  western  Europe,  the  church  of  civiliza- 
tion. It  embraced  all  the  Latin  and  Teutonic  nations  who 
had  been  Christianized  from  Rome,  the  capital  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire  of  the  West. 

The  Catholic  Church,  as  the  Roman  Church  was  called,    The  Catholic 
had,  during  the  Middle  Age,  grown  into  a  huge  organiza-    fundamental 
tion.     The  fundamental  principle  of  the  Catholic  organi-   U^'po^Ptical^""^ 
zation   was  the  division   of  society  into  clergy  and  laity,    power. 
The  clergy  were  the  appointed  mediators  between  God  and 

27 


28 


Moderft  Europe 


The  Catholic 
Church  :    its 
spiritual   or- 
ganization. 


man,  the  laity  were  the  obedient  flock  who  had  nothing 
whatever  to  say  in  spiritual  matters.  From  this  theoretical 
division  it  A^as  only  a  step  to  the  view  that  the  clergy  were 
a  superior  set  of  beings  ;  that  they  ought  not  to  be  subjected 
to  the  laws  of  the  laity ;  and  that  they  ought  to  be  com- 
pletely independent  of  the  civil  authorities.  The  student 
of  earlier  history  will  recall  that  these  claims  were  actually 
advanced  and  realized  by  the  Church  in  the  Middle  Age. 
At  the  opening  of  the  Modern  Period,  therefore,  the  clergy 
stood  outside  the  pale  of  the  common  law,  were  governed 
by  their  own  clerical  law,  and  formed  in  every  country  of 
Europe  a  state  within  a  larger  state.  The  sum  of  these 
little  clerical  states  made  up  the  great  clerical  state  of  Eu- 
rope. The  great  clerical  state  of  Europe  was  a  state  in  the 
same  sense  in  which  France  or  Spain  were  states.  It  was 
ruled  by  the  Pope,  and  had  its  capital  at  Rome. 

Thus,  when  we  begin  our  survey  of  history,  the  Catholic 
Church  wielded  a  tremendous  political  power.  Naturally 
enough,  having  during  many  centuries  laid  an  unwarranted 
stress  upon  its  material  position,  it  had  fallen  into  increasing 
neglect  of  the  spiritual  ends  for  which  it  had  been  founded. 
But,  although  the  Church  may,  in  its  eagerness  to  play  a 
great  worldly  role,  be  fairly  charged  with  neglect  of  its 
spiritual  ends,  it  cannot  be  said  to  have  forgotten  them. 
For  the  purpose  of  governing  Christianity,  Europe  was 
divided  into  dioceses,  at  the  head  of  each  of  which  was 
a  bishop,  who  owed  allegiance  to  the  Poj^e.  The  diocese 
was  then  divided  into  parishes,  and  over  each  parish  was 
established   a   priest.^       The    intention   was   that    not    a 

» An  adjunct  to  this  system  pf  spiritual  government  had  grown  up  in 
the  monasteries.  Monasteries  were  founded  to  afford  men  an  oppor- 
tunity of  saving  their  souls  by  withdrawing  from  the  world.  Similar 
institutions  for  women,  called  nunneries,  followed.  In  the  course  of 
the  Middle  Age  there  were  founded  a  great  many  orders  of  monasteries 
and  nunneries  (for  instance,  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict,  the  Order  of 
St.  Clara),  and  through  gifts  and  legacies  they  had  acquired  an  immense 


The  Reformation  in  Germany  29 

single  layman  should  be  without  his  necessary  clerical 
supervisor,  for  without  the  priest  no  layman  could  save 
his  soul. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  only  the  political  power  The  doctrines 
and  the  spiritual  organization  of  the  Church.  But  it  is  nee-  fo^g  pnicdcfs 
essary  to  regard  also  its  inner  elements,  its  doctrines  and  °^  *^^  Church. 
its  practices.  The  doctrines  consisted  of  the  beliefs  as 
they  had  been  formulated,  at  various  times,  by  the  Church 
Councils  and  by  the  Popes.  They  constituted  a  kind  of 
philosophy  of  life,  and  had  to  be  accepted  one  and  all, 
by  every  believer.  The  individual  had  no  right  to  submit 
them  to  a  personal  investigation  and  reject  them,  if  reason 
and  conscience  so  ordered.  Naturally,  too,  in  the  long 
history  of  the  Church  there  had  been  developed  a 
peculiar  religious  service.  Its  characteristic  feature  was 
the  mass.  Furthermore,  a  whole  host  of  distinctive  prac- 
tices, such  as  worship  of  the  saints,  pilgrimages,  auricular 
confession,  fasts,  and  flagellation,  had  gathered,  by  a  pro- 
cess of  gradual  accretion,  around  the  religious  life  of 
the  time. 

In  the  course  of  the  later  Middle  Age,  the  organiza-  The  decay  of 
tion  of  the  Church,  its  doctrines,  and  its  practices  had 
stirred  up  occasional  opposition.  The  organization, 
owing  to  its  great  political  power,  had  become  tyrannous, 
and  the  clergy  were  frequently  corrupt  and  sensual. 
The  doctrines  and  the  practices,  in  many  instances,  were 
felt  by  an  advancing  society  to  be  based  on  super- 
stition and  unreason.  Critics  like  Wiclif  and  Huss, 
though  put  down,  roused  a  considerable  echo  throughout 
Europe.  But  the  Church,  rejecting  all  advice,  obstinately 
stood    out    against  reform.      In   the  fifteenlh  cQntury  the 

wealth.  In  the  thirteenth  century  two  begging  orders  were  established 
for  a  somewhat  different  end.  Their  members  were  called  Friars 
(Friars  of  St.  Francis,  Friars  of  St.  Dominic),  and  their  chief  object  was 
to  do  pastoral  work  among  the  poor. 


the  Church. 


30  Modern  Europe 


decay  in  the  manners  of  the  clergy  was  accelerated,  chiefly 
by  the  influence  of  the  pagan  Renaissance.  The  clergy, 
too,  heard  the  joyous  call  for  an  unfettered  life  that  came 
from  the  humanists  and  artists.  The  Papacy,  in  the  hands 
of  such  men  as  Sixtus  IV.  (1471-84)  and  Alexander  VI. 
(1493-1502),  fell  into  simony,  licentiousness,  and  mur- 
der, wallowed  in  the  slough  of  all  the  sins,  and  sank 
into  disrepute  before  the  Christian  body  of  Europe.  Un- 
der these  conditions,  a  new  protest  against  the  abuses  in 
the  Church  was  more  likely  to  gain  an  audience  than  any 
of  the  previous  appeals ;  and  in  fact,  when  the  new  protest 
was  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  Modern  Era,  though  it  was 
only  a  simple  monk  who  launched  it,  one-half  of  Europe 
immediately  crowded  around  the  champion  of  reform. 
The  expansion  In  considering  the  origin  of  the  great  movement  of  the 
society.  \  Reformation,  it  is  not  enough  to  lay  stress  upon  _the_abiises — 

in  the  Catholic  Church.  Far  more  than  to  a  decay  within 
the  Catholic  Church,  the  Reformation  was  due  to  a  prog- 
re^of  civilization^^^an  expansion  in  the  life  of  man  and  of 
society.  This  progress,  with  its  attendant  features  of  a 
Revival^of  Learning,  a  Revival  of  Commerce  and  Indus- 
try, has  already  been  considered  in  the  Introduction. 
The  simple  fact  is,  that  the  Catholic  Church,  with  its 
tyrannous  organization,  with  its  abundant  superstition  and 
unreason,  with  its  independence  of  the  state  authority,  and 
with  its  constant  intrusion  into  the  private  life  of  the  in- 
dividual,^ was  no  longer  adapted  to  the  modern  man  and 
the  modern  society  then  in  the  process  of  formation.  It 
offered  man  a  strait-jacket,  when  what  he  wanted  and 
needed  was  absolute  freedom  of  limb,  A  greater  enemy 
of  the  Catholic  Church  than  its  own^comiption,  was,  there- 

»The  clergy  performed  a  large  number  of  fifhctions,  which  we  regard 
as  naturally  pertaining  to  the  state,  at  least,  as  supervisor.  Xhcuew-born 
infant  had  to  be  consigned  to  the  Church  for  baptism  ;  without  the 
Church  no  man  could  marry,  or  be  divorced,  or  make  his  will. 


The  Reformation  in  Germany  31 

fore,  the  newjiian  .created  by  the  Renaissance.  Before  we 
take  up  the  Reformation  in  Germany,  its  home,  it  is  only 
natural,  then,  that  we  should  give  some  attention  to  the 
effects  there  of  the  Renaissance,  and  of  its  attendant  feature 
— the  Revival  of  Learning. 

The   Revival  of  Classical  Learning,    by   the   so-called   The  Revival  of 
humanistsj^  took,  in  Italy,  the  home  of  the  movement,  a   Jtafy "and  in 
pronounced  pagan  form.    The  work  of  the  scholars  of  Rome   ^^^  north, 
and  Florence  led  to  a  gradual  separation  from  Christianity, 
culminating  in  an  actual  contempt  for  it.     When  the  Revi- 
val reached  the  Teutonic  north,  especially  Germany  and 
England,  it  exercised  a  different  influence,  an  influence  in 
keeping  with  the  character  of  the  northern  peoples.     Thei 
/serious   and  reflective  north^was  not,  like  the  (facile  and' 
impressionable  south,  immediately  won  over  by  the  vision  j 
of  Greek  joyousnes^and  Roman  splendor  to  throw  away,  I 
as  useless   ballast,  the   Christian  acquisitions   of  the  past.  \ 
The  northern  scholars,  too,  turned  back  to  the  world  which  \ 
lay  beyond  the  Middle  Age  ;  however,  they  did  not  busy 
themselves  with  Greek  and  Latin  documents  only,  but  in- 
cluded in  their  range  of  study  also  the  sources  of  Hebrew 
and  of  Christian  history.     They  came  to  this  intellectual 
work  fresh  and  without  guidance,  and  were  delighted,  like 
children,  with  their  discovery  of  the  ancient  and  simple 
Christianity  of  apostolic  times.     It  is  not  surprising  that 
to  minds  already  suspicious  of  contemporary  Christianity, 
the  earlier  form  should  have  seemed   heartier  and  nobler 
than  the  elaborate  Roman  Catholic  form  with  the  many 
picturesque  features  which  had  been  added  in  the  course  of 
a  long  existence.      Without  giving  up  the  kernel  of  Christi- 
anity, therefore,  the  northern  scholars  undertook  to  attack, 
by  means  of  criticism  and  satire,  everything  in  the  Catholic 
Church   that  they  considered   as   supererogatory  and   re- 
pulsive. 


32  Modern  Europe 


The  northern^  The  most  important  of  these  northern  humanists,  who 
are  justly  called  the  intellectual  forerunners  of  the  Refor- 
mation, are  Reuchlin  and  Ulrich  von  Hutten  of  Germany, 
John  Colet  and  Thomas  More  of  England,^  Lefebre  of 
France, 2  and  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam.  We  are  for  the 
present  particularly  interested  in  those  humanists  who  ex- 
ercised an  influence  on  Germany,  where  the  Reformation 
originated.  Of  these  Ulrich  von  Hutten  was  easily  the  most 
active — a  poet  and  a  fighter  rather  than  a  scholar,  who  be- 
came famous  through  his  collaboration  in  the  Epistolce 
obscuronwi  virorum,  a  biting  satire  against  the  opponents 
of  enlightenment  and  progress.  But  the  leader,  the  prince 
of  the  humanists,  as  he  was  called,  was  Erasmus.  He 
lived  at  different  times  in  France,  England,  and  Germany 
and  acqiilred  a  European  fame.  His  most  noteworthy 
piece  of  scholarship  was  a  careful  edition  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament in  Greek  with  a  Latin  translation  and  notes  (1516). 
Neither  the  Old  nor  the  New  Testament  had  been  a  house- 
hold book  in  the  Middle  Age.  Erasmus  planned  to  make 
them  such  ;  it  was  his  wish  that  the  people  should  get  an 
opportunity  to  acquaint  themselves  directly  out  of  the  Bible 
,   \jA  with  the  true  Christian  life  without  first  appealing  to  their 

A^^s^  old  tyrants,  the  clergy.     Erasmus  also,   like  Hutten,  de- 

lighted in  satire.  His  *' Praise  of  Folly  "  (15 11),  lashing 
the  stupidities  and  superstitions  of  the  day,  tremendously 
contributed  to  the  popularity  of  reform. 

The  human-         Erasmus  and  his  friends  were  students  and  not  warriors. 

'^fo?m!^nor  They  wished  to  raise  the  culture  of  their  day  by  educa- 
tion, and  though  they  attacked  the  Church,  they  never 
thought  of  destroying,  but  only  of  reforming  it.  When, 
therefore,  the  movement  which  they  had  championed  as- 
sumed, in  the  hands  of  a  younger  generation,  an   aggres- 

•  For  the  work  of  the  English  humanists,  see  Chapter  IV. 
'For  Lefebre,  see  Chapter VI. 


Luther 


The  Reformation  in  Germany  33 

sive  character,  and  attempted  to  bring  about  an  absolute 
separation  of  the  north  from  the  Church  of  Rome,  the 
humanists,  mild  scholars  that  they  were,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  such  an  occasional  fighter  as  Hutten,  fell  off  in 
terror  from  the  cause  which  they  themselves  had  launched 
in  the  world.  They  contributed  to  the  making  of  the  Re- 
formation, but  when  that  movement  became  revolution- 
ary, they  deliberately  forsook  it  and  returned  to  the  bosom 
of  Mother  Church. 

Thus,  although  the  humanists  of  the  generation  of  Eras-  Martin 
mus  prepared  the  Reformation  they  4id  not  make  it.  Its 
author  is  Martin  Luther.  Martin  Luther  was  born  No- 
vember 10,  1483,  in  the  province  of  Thuringia.  His 
ancestry  for  many  generations  back  had  been  hard-working 
peasants,  and  peasant  sturdiness  and  simplicity,  with  much 
of  peasant  obstinacy  and  superstition,  remained  character- 
istic of  this  son  of  the  soil  to  the  end  of  his  days.  By 
personal  sacrifices  his  parents  managed  to  send  young 
Martin  to  the  humanistic  university  of  Erfurt  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  lawyer  of  him,  but  in  the  year  1505, 
following  what  appears  to  have  been  an  irresistible  relig- 
ious impulse,  he  joined  the  Augustine  Order  and  became  a 
monk.  A  journey  undertaken  in  1 5 10  to  Rome,  the  capital 
of  Catholicism,  but  also  at  that  time  the  centre  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  profligate  life  of  Europe,  may  have  planted  in 
the  rigorous  young  monk  the  seed  of  his  later  antagonism  to 
the  Papacy.  In  any  event,  on  his  return  to  Germany  he 
occupied  himself  with  a  deep  study  of  the  problems  of  the 
Christian  life.  St.  Augustine  and  the  mystics  were  his 
favorite  authors.  With  the  aid  of  these  he  developed  what 
later  became  and  still  is,  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the 
Protestant  Church,  the  principle  of  Justification  by  Faith. ^ 


*  The  Catholic  Church  taught  that  man  is  saved  or  justified  by  works. 
Custom  had  come  to  construe  works  as  the  mere  performance  of  Church 


34 


Modern  Europe 


The  ninety- 
five  tjieses 
againirrn- 
dulgences. 


Luther  excites 
a  general  dis- 


This  and  other  novel  ideas  were  still  simmering  vaguely 
in  his  mind,  when  there  occurred  an  event — Luther  was 
then  at  Wittenberg,  capital  of  Saxony,  where  he  occupied 
a  chair  at  the  university — which  forced  from  him  an  ex- 
pression of  opinion. 

In  15 1 7  JohnTetzel,  a  Dominican  friar,  arrived  in  Sax- 
ony with  a  wallet  of  papal  Indulgences.  An  Indulgence  was 
a  remission  of  punishment  for  certain  acts  of  sin.  It  was 
originally  granted  only  upon  honest  contrition,  and  as  long 
as  it  was  thus  guarded  from  abuse  had  in  it  nothing  un- 
christian. But  the  doctrine  of  Indulgences,  like  much  else 
in  the  Catholic  Church,  had  become  vulgarized,  especially 
after  the  Popes  had  discovered  that  it  might  be  made  useful 
as  a  source  of  income  ;  they  began  to  sell  Indulgences, 
without  bothering  about  the  contrition.  During  the  reign 
of  the  briUiant  Medicean  Pope,  Leo  X.  (1513-1521),  who 
had  wars  to  conduct  and  a  church  of  St.  Peter  to  build, 
the  Papacy  was  particularly  in  need  of  money.  Hence 
Tetzel's  presence  in  Saxony  with  the  ticketsofjmjdon  at 
large  and  small  prices  adjusted  to  the  size  of  the  sin. 

Such  vile  traffic  aroused  a  general  indignation.  Luther's 
distinction  is  that  he  alone  had  the  courage  to  communicate 
his  conviction  on  the  practice  to  the  public.  On  October 
31,  151 7,  he  nailed  to  the  door  of  the  castle  church  of  Wit- 
tenberg, his  famous  ninety-five  theses  against  Indulgences. 
His  bold  words  raised  an  immediate  echo  of  applause 
throughout  the  land.  But  they  also  stung  the  supporters  of 
Tetzel  and  of  rigid  Catholicism  to  a  vigorous  answer,  and 
out  of  the  contention  which  followed  arose  triumphantly 
the  ProtestanJ;  Church. 

When  Luther  published  his  ninety-five  theses,  he  spoke  as 


obligations — mass,  confession,  etc  ,  and  so  rendered  Christianity  super- 
ficial and  external.  Luther's  view  of  Justification  by  Faith  tried  to  lead 
men  back  to  the  necessity  of  the  inner  acceptance  of  God. 


The  Reformation  in  Germany  35 

a  son  of  Mother  Church  who  was  grieved  at  an  excrescence  Luther  devel- 
which  in  his  eyes  injured  her  good  name.  But  the  opposi-  cfftholic^opin- 
tion  which  he  encountered  in  the  next  few  years,  forced  '°^^- 
him  to  submit  the  whole  system  of  the  Catholic  Church  to 
an  investigation,  and  soon  he  discovered,  not  without  sor- 
row and  surprise,  that  there  was  much  else  in  Catholicism 
besides  Indulgences  which  he  could  not  accept.  By  1520 
he  had  even  reached  and  published  the  conviction  that  the 
Papacy  itself  was  a  usurpation  for  which  there  was  no  Bibli- 
cal sanction.  Leo  X.,  easy-going  and  absorbed  in  pleas- 
ures, had  been  inclined  at  first  to  sneer  at  the  trouble  in 
Germany  as  *'  a  squabble  of  monks,"  but  Luther's  increas- 
ing audacity  finally  put  an  end  to  his  patience.  In  1520 
he  hurled  his  bull  of  excommunication  at  the  lieretic.  It  re- 
mained to  be  seen  whether  Luther's  courage  would  be  broken 
by  this  means  and  the  threatening  schism  of  the  Church 
^verted.  Conflicts  in  the  past  had  frequently  been  followed 
by  the  humble  submission  of  the  disturber.  But  Luther 
was  apparently  made  of  severer  stuff  than  his  predecessors 
in  rebellion ;  at  any  rate  he  was  not  easily  browbeaten. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  face  of  the  whole  con- 
temporary world  was  at  this  critical  moment  turned  upon 
him.  Nothing  daunted,  he  met  the  first  onset  of  the  Church 
with  lofty  courage.  *  As  soon  as  the  papal  document  arrived, 
he  burned  it,  amidst  a  great  concourse  of  partisans,  before 
the  gate  of  Wittenberg  (1520).  By  this  act  Luther  defi- 
nitely severed  his  connection  with  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  attempted  reform  of  the  Church  had  been  rejected  by 
the  Church  itself;  therefore  it  was  clear  that  reform  could 
only  be  realized  by  a  revolution,  ending  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  new  Christian  faith. 

If  the  excommunicated  heretic  did  not  suffer  the  penalty 
of  death  for  his  act  of  audacity  in  burning  the  bull,  it  was 
because  a  large  part  of  the  German  people  stood  firmly  by 


i<rz ) 


36 


Modern  Europe 


Luther  called 
"before  the 
emperor. 


The  Diet 
©XWorms, 


him,  and  because  he  enjoyed  the  protection  of  the  powerful 
elector  of  Saxony.  But  the  Pope  had  been  insulted,  and 
the  emperor,  as  the  head  of  Germany,  could  not  afford  to 
let  the  insult  pass  unnoticed.  The  emperor  of  the  day  was 
the  youthful  Charles  V.  (Charles  I.  of  Spain),  who  had  been 
elected  to  the  office  ui)on  the  death  of  his  grandfather, 
Maximihan  (15 19).  Charles  was  at  this  very  moment  on 
his  way  to  Germany,  having  called  a  Diet  at  the  city  of 
Worrns^n  the  Rhine,  in  order  to  consider iKe  affairs  of  his 
new  country.  Before  this  parliament  of  electors,  princes, 
and  cities,  presided  over  by  the  emperor,  Luther  was  sum- 
moned to  answer  for  his  conduct.  To  reassure  him,  the  em- 
peror gave  him  a  formal  promise  that  he  might  come  and 
return  undisturbed.  Nevertheless,  his  friends  supplicated 
him  not  to  go,  reminding  him  of  the  fate  of  Huss  at  Con- 
stance. '*I  would  go  even  if  there  were  as  many  devils 
there  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  house-roofs,"  he  answered, 
fearlessly.    On  April  17,  152 1,  he  appeared  before  the  Diet. 

The  scene  is  one  of  the  impressive  spectacles  of  history. 
The  poor  monk  stood  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  before  a 
brilliant  concourse  of  princes  and  bishops,  who  for  the 
most  part  turned  upon  him  eyes  of  scorn  and  hatred.  He 
was  invited  to  recant.  If  he  had  been  cowed  the  Refor- 
mation might  have  ended  then  and  there.  But  he  found 
strength  in  his  conscience.  '^  Here  I  stand  ;  I  cannot  do 
otherwise.  God  help  me,  Amen,"  were  the  closing  words 
of  his  defence.  Germany  applauded  him  to  the  echo  ;  he_ 
had  won  the  day.  But  his  friends  were  concerned  for  his 
safety,  and  the  elector  of  Saxony,  his  providential  master, 
took  charge  of  his  person  in  order  to  secure  him  from  vio- 
lence, and  conveyed  him  to  a  sure  hiding-place  in  Thurin- 
gia,  called  the  Wartburg. 

While  IvUther  was  being  conveyed  to  his  retreat  the  em- 
peror at  Worms  had  come  to  a  decision.     Charles  was  an 


The  Reformation  in  Germany  37 

inexperienced  youth,  just  twenty-one  years  of  age,  but  he 
was  endowed  with  poHtical  ambition  and  capacity,  and  felt 
instinctively  that  Luther,  if  allowed  to  go  on,  would  cause 
a  schism  in  Germany  which  would  still  further  weaken  the 
already  weak  position  of  the  emperor.     Moreover,  Charles 
was  a  good  Catholic,  and  though  favorable  to  a  reform  of  the 
Church,  would  not  hear  of  effecting  it  against  the  will  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities.     Finally,  he  was  about  to  begin  a 
war  against  Francis  I.  of  France  for  the  possession  of  Milan, 
and  for  this  enterprise  he  argued  that  he  would  need  the  alli- 
ance of  the  Pope.      For  all  these  reasons  Charles  published,      j  4  »^^ 
on  May  26,  152 1,  a  decree  of  outlawry,  called  the  Edict  of  The  Edict 
Worms,  against  Luther,  by  which  the  heretic's  life  was  de-   °  '    °™^,*  ,  -j 
cjared_fbrfeit  and  his  writings  forbjdden.      Having  thus  set-     ,,  .      .  J.-Cc 
tied,  as  he  airily  thought,  the  German  difficulties  at  a  stroke, 
Charles  set  out  for  Italy  to  begin  the  war  against  France. 

But  the  movement  of  the  Reformation  had  already  ac- 
quired too  great  a  momentum  to  be  stopped  by  an  imperial 
order.  If  Charles  could  have  remained  in  Germany  to  see 
personally  to  the  execution  of  his  decree  against  Luther,  or 
if  the  real  power  in  Germany  had  not  lain  with  the  princes, 
who,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  were  d,ivided  in  their  sym- 
pathy, the  history  of  the  Reformation  might  have  been  dif- 
ferent. As  it  was,  however,  Charles  had  interests  in  Spain, 
America,  Italy,  and  the  Netherlands,  which  often  engaged 
him  wholly,  and  the  princes,  if  Catholic,  half-heartedly  re- 
ceived, and  if  Protestant,  solemnly  rejected  the  Edict  of  The  Edict  of 
Worms.  Under  these  conditions  the  Reformation  was  for  ^ecSed  ""^^ 
some  time  left  to  itself,  and  that  proved  its  salvation. 

The  Protestant  opinions  of  Luther  and  his  followers  made 
a  rapid  conquest  of  Germany.  Monasteries  were  dissolved, 
and  priests  and  bishops  abjuring  their  allegiance  to  Rome 
instituted  in  the  place  of  the  Latin  Mass  a  simpler  worship 
which  they  conducted  in  the  national  idiom.     With  such 


38 


Modern  Europe 


The  progress 
of  the 
Reformation. 


Luther's  CQIL- 
fUct  with  the 

xiaHieals  at 
tgnberg. 


The  peasant 
revolt,  1525. 


ferment  of  opinion  possessing  the  whole  country,  it  is  not 
unnatural  that  wild  agitators  occasionally  caught  the  ear  of 
the  masses.  In  fact,  the  Reformation  was  not  many 
months  old  before  its  welfare  was  threatened  more  by  its 
own  extreme  elements  than  by  its  Catholic  opponents. 
Nobody  saw  this  more  clearly  than  Luther.  He  was  re- 
solved that  the  movement  should  travel  a  sure  road  and  at 
a  moderate  pace,  and  that  whoever  should  venture  to  com- 
promise it  by  extravagances  and  illusions,  or  whoever  should 
attempt  to  use  it  for  ends  other  than  those  of  the  religious 
reform  with  which  it  had  originated,  must  be  abruptly  ex- 
cluded from  his  party.  These  certainly  not  unwise  con- 
siderations explain  Luther's  attitude  toward  the  revolu- 
tions of  the  next  eventful  years. 

Luther  was  still  living  concealed  in  the  Wartburg,^  when 
startling  things  occurred  in  the  Saxon  capital  of  Wittenberg. 
Radicals,  who  called  themselves  prophets  or  anabaptists, 
and  who  were  led  by  one  Carlsladt,  had  begun  to  preach 
the  d^truction  of  the  images  which  adorned  the  Catholic 
churches,  and  similar  acts  of  violence.  Luther,  hearing  of 
Carlstadt's  nefarious  activity,  abruptly  left  the  Wartburg 
and  appeared  among  his  flock  (1522).  His  powerful  word 
immediately  brought  his  people  back  to  order  and  the 
"■  prophets  "  fled. 

But  the  revolutionary  tendencies  aroused  by  Luther's  call 
to  spiritual  freedom  were  already  spreading  like  wildfire. 
A  rising  of  the  knights  of  the  Rhine  region,  among  whom 
the  bold  humanist,  Hutten,  had  appeared  to  preach  the 
doctrine  of  liberty,  had  hardly  been  put  down  (1522-23), 
when  the  peasants  of  southwestern  and  central  Germany, 
resolved  that  the  proposed  religious  reform  should  also  bring 
with  it  a  reform  of  their  social  and  political  condition,  re- 


>  During  his  retirement  Luther  began   one  of  his  most  memorable 
works,  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  German. 


The  Reformation  in  Gerina7ty  39 

volted  against  their  masters.  The  condition  of  the  peasants  . 
in  Germany  was  indeed  wretched.  They  were  mere  serfs 
of  the  soil,  whose  Hves  were  first  their  masters',  then  their 
own.i  /The  message  of  the  Reformation  fell  upon  them 
like  a  ray  of  hope  from  heaven.  So  they  rose,  these  poor 
folk,  and  unguided  as  they  were,  or  worse  than  unguided, 
since  the  incompetent  revolutionary  dreamers  and  scoun- 
drels whom  Luther  had  denounced  and  driven  out  of  Wit- 
tenberg were  their  leaders,  they  butchered  their  lords  and 
created  an  insufferable  anarchy.  As  usual  the  imperial  au- 
thorities were  incapable  of  taking  any  action.  But  the  local 
authorities,  that  is,  the  princes,  got  together  an  army  and 
scattered  the  disordered  bands  of  the  peasants  to  the  winds 
(1525).  Hounded  on  by  Luther  in  coarse  pamphlets  the 
yictors  massacred  the  poor  insurgents  until  more  than 
50,000  had  been  cut  down.  Luther's  partisanship  seemed 
especially  inexcusable  to  the  supporters  of  the  peasants,  as 
he  had  first  written  a  letter  in  which  he  had  expressed  his 
sympathy  with  their  cause. 

Historians  have  usually  found  fault  with  Luther  for  his  Luther's 
attitude  in  this  matter.  Certainly  his  brutal  language  and  ^°'"*  °  ^'^^^" 
his  excited  championship  of  the  princes  is  inexcusable,  but 
just  as  certainly  he  was  right  from  .his  own  point  of  view 
in  trying  to  keep  the  problem  of  Church  reform  as  unin- 
volved  as  possible  with  social  and  political  aspirations, 
however  laudable  these  were  in  themselves.  The  poor  down- 
trodden peasants,  Hke  the  fanatic  ''prophets"  of  Witten- 
berg, threatened  to  compromise  his  movement  before  the 
eyes  of  Europe,  and  Luther  knew  that  if  it  was  once  under- 
stood to  be  identical  with  anarchy,  it  was  lost. 

» The  abject  condition  of  the  peasants  is  best  brought  out  by  the  twelve  | 
articles  in  which  they  formulated  their  demands.  Some  of  these  were  :  I 
game  and  fish  to  be  free  to  all,  all  service  beyond  the  original  contract  I 
to  be  paid  for  in  wages,  and  arbitrary  punishments  to  be  put  an  end  to.  | 
The  demands  are  moderate  throughout  and  involve  no  more  than  is 
granted  everywhere  in  our  time  as  a  matter  of  course. 


40 


Modern  Europe 


The  wars  of 
France  and 
Spain. 


The  first  war ; 
battle  of 
Pavia. 


The  second 
war  and  sack 
of  Rome, 
1527. 


While  these  things  were  going  on  in  Germany,  Charles 
V.  was  wholly  engaged  with  the  war  against  France.  In 
fact,  the  wars  with  France  continued  throughout  his  reign 
and  prevented  him  from  ever  giving  his  full  attention  to 
the  German  Reformation.  There  were  altogether  foi^r 
wars,  covering  the  following  periods:  ist  war,  1521-26; 
2d  war,  1527-29;   3d   war,    1536-38;  4th  war,  i542'^44. 

The  first  war  ended  with  the  signal  triumph  of  Charles. 
Charles's  general  defeated  the  French  army  at  Pavia  in  Italy 
(1525)  and  took  the  king  of  France  himself,  Francis  I.,  cap- 
tive. '*  All  is  lost  save  honor,"  was  the  resigned  message 
which  this  chivalrous  monarch  sent  his  mother  at  Paris. 
Charles  had  his  royal  prisoner  transported  to  Madrid  and 
there  he  wrung  from  him  a  peace  (1526),  by  which  Fran- 
cis ceded  Milan  and  parts  of  France  itself  (Burgundy  aJid 
Artois)  to  Charles. 

But  hardly  had  Francis,  regained  his  liberty  when  he 
hastened  to  renew  the  war.  Charles  had  overstrained  the 
bow.  Francis  could  buy  peace  by  the  cession  to  his  enemy 
of  Milan,  a  foreign  concjuest,  but  as  long  as  there  was  life 
in  France,  her  king  could  jiot^  grant  nor  could  she  accept 
a  partition  of  her  territory.^  The  Pope  and  Henry  VIII.  of 
England,  who  had  hitherto  favored  Charles  in  the  struggle 
between  France  and  Spain,  now  went  over  to  Francis  from 
fear  that  the  emperor  was  striving  for  the  supremacy  in 
Europe.  The  most  noteworthy  incident  of  the  second  war 
was  the  sack  of  Rome  (1527}^  ^^^  great  French  nobleman, 
the  duke  of  Bourl^on,  who  had  turned  traitor  and  had  been 
put  by  Charles  at  the  head  of  a  mixed  troop  of  Spaniards 
and  of  German  Protestants,  was  ordered  to  march  against 
the  Pope  for  the  purpose  of  punishing  him  for  his  alliance 
with  Francis.  At  the  moment  at  which  the  walls  of  the 
papal  capital  were  scaled  Bourbon  fel],  and  the  rabble  s^ 
diery,  left  without  a  master,  put  Rome  to  a  frightful  pillage. 


1  rv^ 

The  Reformation  in  Germany  41 

Although  the  advantage  in  the  second  as  in  the  first  war  Charles 
remained  with  Charles,  he  offered  Francis  somewhat  more  peror. 
acceptable  terms  (temporary  retention  by  Francis  of  Bur- 
gundy) in  new  negotiations,  which  ended  in  the  so-called 
Ladies'  Peace  of  Cambray  (1529).  After  the  peace  Charles 
had  himself  crowned  emperor  at  Bologna  (1529),  and  fig- 
ured in  history  as  the  first  emperor^  who  was  crowned  else- 
where than  at  Rome  and  the  last  who  held  it  worth  his 
while  to  be  crowned  at  all. 

Charles,  temporarily  rid  of  France,  was  now  resolved  to   Charles  re- 
look  once  more  into  German  affairs.     1^(^32?  after  an  ab-    Germany, 
sence  of  almost  ten  years,  he  again  turned  his  face  north-   Jugs^urg"'^ 
ward.     The  Reformation  was  by  this  time  an  accomplished  .  i53p- 
fact,  but  Charles,  who  during  his  absence  had  received  his 
information  from  Catholic  partisans  and  through  hearsay, 
still  inchned,  as  at  Worms,  to  treat  it  as  a  trifle.     He  was 
destined  to  be  rudely  awakened.     A  Diet^  had  been  called 
to  meet  him  at  the  city  of  Augsburg.     At  the  summons  a 
brilliant  assembly  of  both  Lutheran  and  Catholic  princes 
came  together.     In  a  dictatorial  manner  Charles  abruptly 
demanded  of  his  estates  that  the  Edict  of  Worms  be  at 
length  executed  throughout   Germany^   and   that   all  un- 
authorized Church  innovations  be  straightway  abandoned. 
Thereupon  the  Lutheran  princes  resolved  to^remonstrate  with  , 

the  emperor.  They  bade  Luther's  friend  and  co-worker,  'yyiJufl^-''^'-^^^ 
Melancthon^  who  was  the  greatest  scholar  of  the  Reforma- 
tion and  one  of  its  most  attractive  figures,  to  draw  up  a  fair 
statement  of  the  Lutheran  beliefs.  This  statement,  under 
the  name  of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  won  such  favor 
among  Protestant  ^  contemporaries,  that  it  straightway  be- 


1  Strictly  speaking,  Louis  the  Pious  is  the  first  mediaeval  emperor  who 
was  not  crowned  at  Rome.  But  as  Louis  lived  seven  hundred  years  be- 
fore Charles,  at  a  time  when  the  ideas  of  the  mediaeval  Empire  were  not 
yet  fixed,  his  case  hardly  furnishes  a  precedent. 

2  The  Lutherans  had  acquired  the  name  of  Protestants,  from  the  protest 


42 


Modern  Europe 


The  League 
of  Schmalk- 
alden. 


Postponement 
of  the 
civil  war. 


came  and  has  since  remained  the  platform  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Melancthon's  document  the  princes  then  humbly 
presented  to  the  emperor,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  be 
convinced  thereby  that  there  was  nothing  in  Protestantism 
which  was  dangerous  to  the  state.  But  Charles  was  not  to 
be  moved  from  his  opposition.  He  closed  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg  with  a  statement  in  which  he  reiterated  his  first 
demand.  As  the  Protestants  had  in  consequence  every 
reason  to  anticipate  a  struggle  with  the  emperor,  they 
united  in  a  great  defensive  league,  which  from  the  place 
of  meeting  received  the  name  of  the  League  of  Schmalk- 
alden. 

Both  sides  now  stood  opposed  to  each  other,  ready  for 
action ;  but  just  as  civil  war  seemed  to  have  become  inevi- 
table, the  news  reached  Germany  that  the  Turks  were 
about  to  attack  Vienna.  The  Turks  had  already  carried 
the  terror  of  their  name  into  eastern  Germany  two  years 
before.  In  face  of  a  danger  threatening  all  alike,  the  civil., 
struggle  had,  of  course,  to  be  postponed.  In  an  agreement 
which  Charles  signed  with  the  Protestants  at  Nuremberg 
(1532),  he  abandoned  the  measures  which  he  had  advo- 
cated at  Augsburg,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  march  against 
the  Turks  at  the  head  of  a  brilliant  army  representing  united 
Germany.  Before  this  display  of  force  the  Turks  fell  back. 
On  his  return  Charles  found  other  things  to  do  than  fight 
the  German  Protestants.  The  Mohammedan  pirate  of  the 
north  coast  of  Africa,  who  were  engaged  in  destroying  the 
European  commerce,  urgently  demanded  his  attention. 
For  the  next  few  years  he  gave  his  time  to  the  destruction 
of  their  strongholds  in  Tunis  and  Tripoli,  and  thus  the  sup- 
pression of  Protestantism  in  Germany  was  again  postponed. 
To  Charles  all  this  must  have  been  hard  to  bear.     The 


which  they  pubh'shed  in  1529  (at  the  Diet  of  Speier)  against  the  execution 
of  the  Edict  of  Worms. 


The  Reformation  in  Germany  43 

French,  the  Turks,  and  the  African  pirates  were  among 
them  keeping  his  hands  full,  and  were  always  intercept- 
ing his  arm  at  the  very  moment  at  which  he  was  about  to 
draw  his  sword  against  the  Protestant  revolution. 

In  the  following  year  there  broke  out  a  third  war  with  New  wars. 
Francis  I.  of  France  (1536-38),  only  to  be  succeeded  by  between 
the  fourth  and  last  (1542-44),  which  was  concluded  by  the  ^^eTurks. ^""^ 
Peace  of  Crespy.  In  this  peace  Charles  definitely  gave  up 
his  claim  to  Burgundy.  But  the  most  striking  feature  of 
these  last  two  wars,  a  feature  which  among  contemporary 
Europeans  caused  an  unspeakable  surprise,,  was  the  alli- 
ance which  Francis  concluded  against  Charles  with  Soliman 
the  Magnificent,  the  Turkish  Sultan.  A  union  between 
Christians  and  Mohammedans  presented  an  unprecedented 
spectacle,  and  the  contemporary  world  was  unable  to  read 
the  meaning  of  this  new  departure.  To  us,  however,  it  is 
plain.  In  the  modern  world  which,  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, was  gradually  taking  shape,  religious  considerations 
were  to  yield  the  place  to  the  great  political  interests  of 
monarchs  and  nations.  " 

The  peace  of  Crespy  set  Charles  free  to  try  once  more  to 
eradicate  the  German  heresy.  His  propositions  for  an  amica- 
ble settlement  having  been  steadily  rejected  by  the  Protes- 
tants, he  was  now  resolved  to  try  force.  As  a  result  of  his 
open  preparations  for  war  the  league  of  the  Protestant  princes 
and  cities,  the  so-called  League  of  Schmalkalden ,  began  to 
provide  for  its  defence.  At  the  moment  at  which  hostili- 
ties threatened  to  begin,  Luther,  the  much-struggling  and 
much -suffering,  died  (1546).      He  was  spared  the  pain  of 

seeing  his  countrymen  in  arms  against  each  other  because  

of  a  movement  of  which  he  had  been  the  creator.      His  life   The  death  of     \ 
throughout  was  brave  and  simple,  and  if  it  is  stained  with      "  --^-_Ll-^^ 
outbursts  of  coarseness  and  vulgarity,  it  is  the  part  of  gen- 
erosity to  ascribe  them   to  the  difficult  circumstances   in 


44 


Modern  Europe 


The  first  war 
of  religion  in 
Germany. 


The  defeat  of 
the  emperor. 


which  he,  the  untrained  monk,  called  suddenly  to  the  post 
of  danger  and  of  action,  had  been  placed.  If  he  has  be- 
come dear  to  the  German  people  and  to  the  Protestant 
world  in  general,  it  is  not  only  because  he  created  the  new 
faith,  but  also  because  his  large,  hale  figure,  which  we 
picture  seated  at  the  family  board  and  surrounded  by  a 
circle  of  fresh  young  faces,  breathes  a  broad  sympathy  and 
humanity.^ 

The  first  war  of  religion  in  Germany,  called  the  war  of 
Schmalkalden,  broke  out  in  the  year  of  Luther's  death 
(1546).  The  Protestant  forces,  led  by  the  foremost  Prot- 
estant princes,  John  Frederick  of  Saxony  and  Philip  of 
Hesse,  lacked  order  and  direction.  Charles,  advancing  step 
by  step,  ended  the  war  at  one  stroke  at  the  battle  of  MiihJ- 
berg  (1547),  where  the  leading  Protestant  prince,  the  elec- 
tor of  Saxony,  was  taken  prisoner.  The  triumph  of  the 
emperor  was  in  no  small  measure  due  to  the  treachery  of 
a  Protestant  prince  and  relative  of  the  elector,  Maurice  of 
Saxony.  Maurice  was  a  capable,  unscrupulous  man,  who 
for  the  price  of  the  electorate  of  his  relative,  lent  Charles 
his  aid.  The  price  once  paid,  he  remembered  that  he, 
too,  was  a  Protestant,  and  gradually  cutting  loose  from  the 
emperor  prepared  to  undo  the  conse(^uences  of  the  victory 
of  Miihlberg. 

Charles,  after  the  victory  of  Miihlberg,  which  had  ended 
with  the  complete  submission  of  the  Protestants,  undertook 
to  heal  the  schism  by  dictating  terms  of  j^eace.  He  pre- 
pared a  union  of  the  Protestant  and  Catholic  Churches 
through  a  measure  called  the  Interim.  The  Interim  estab- 
hshed  3.modus  vivendiiox  Protestants,  until  the  great  Church 
Council  which  was  sitting  at  Trent  had  determined  what 

•  Among  other  Catholic  practices,  Luther  condemned  also  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy.  In  the  year  1525  he,  the  monk,  married  a  nun,  Catharine 
Bora,  who,  like  him,  had  renounced  her  vows.  The  family  life  of 
Luther  deserves  study,  and  will  be  found  to  have  a  real  poetic  flavor. 


The  Reformation  in  Germany  45 

was  to  be  done  with  them.  The  Protestant  world  felt  with 
consternation  that  in  this  half-way  measure  lay  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end.  An  increasing  discontent  grew  soon  to 
a  revolutionary  enthusiasm,  and  when  Maurice  of  Saxony 
came  back  to  his  co-religionists,  Germany  suddenly  rose, 
and  Charles  found  himself  helpless  before  the  united  dem- 
onstration (1552).  Maurice  might  even  have  taken  him 
captive.  '*  I  have  no  cage  for  so  fine  a  bird,"  he  is  report- 
ed to  have  said.  So  the  emperor  escaped.  But  his  life- 
long war  against  the  Lutheran  heresy  had  come  to  an 
end.  Broken  by  defeat,  but  too  proud  to  acknowledge  it, 
he  ordered  his  brother  Ferdinand  to  sign  a  preliminary 
peace  with  the  Protestants.  At  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  in 
the  year  ij^,  a  final  peace,  known  as  the  Religious  Peace 
of  Augsburg,  was  ratified  by  the  emperor  and  the  estates.  "■"  ^""- 
In  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  the  Lutheran  Church  received  The  terms  of 
legal  recognition  as  an  independent  ecclesiastical  establish-  Augsburg,  / 
ment.  It  was  determined  that  every  estate  of  the  Diet,  }^^ 
that  is,  every  prince  or  imperial  city,  should  have  the  right 
to  accept  or  reject  the  Lutheran  faith  and  then,  as  convic- 
tion urged,  to  introduce  it  into  or  banish  it  from  his  prov- 
ince. Tolerance  for  the  rulers  but  not  for  the  people,  after 
the  principle  ciijus  regio,  ejus  religio  (religion  pertains  to 
the  territorial  lord),  was  made,  in  accordance  with  the  still 
feudal  notions  of  the  day,  the  fundamental  principle  of  the 
Protestant  -  Catholic  adjustment.  However,  though  the 
principle  of  the  equality  of  the  two  faiths  was  in  general 
established,  one  important  article,  called  the  Ecclesiastical  The  Ecclesi- 
Reservation,  was  introduced  in  favor  of  the  old  Church,  vation. 
There  still  were  in  the  year  1555a  large  number  of  bishop- 
rics and  archbishoprics  in  Germany,  Mainz,  Cologne, 
Wiirzburg,  Munster,  etc.,  with  territorial  possessions 
amounting  perhaps  to  one-sixth  of  the  whole  German  soil. 
These  properties  it  was  agreed  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Reser- 


•■^ 


46  Modern  Europe 


vation  should  never  be  reformed,  but  should  remain  the  pos- 
session of  the  Roman  Church  ;  therefore,  if  a  bishop  should 
turn  Protestant,  that  action  would  be  admissible  for  his 
own  person,  but  he  would  have  to  resign  his  see  and  allow 
the  chapter  to  elect  another  and  a  Catholic  bishop  in  his 
place.  It  was  this  article  providing  so  tenderly  for  the 
Catholic  interests  which  soon  caused  much  confusion,  be- 
cause it  was  found  in  practice  that  it  could  not  be  kept ; 
and  in  the  end  the  quarrels  resulting  from  it  brought  on 
a  second  war. 
Henry  II.  of  The    victory  of  the  Protestants  over  the  emperor  was 

quers  the  three  "ot  purchased  without  a  heavy  loss  for  Germany.  Maurice 
bishoprics.  ^^  Saxony  had  found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  make  sure  of 
victory,  to  ally  himself  with  Henry  11.  of  France,  and 
in  the  same  year  (1552)  in  which  Maurice  drove  the 
emperor  over  the  Alps,  Henry  H.  invaded  Germany 
and  occupied  the  bishoprics  of  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun. 
Although  Charles  laid  siege  to  Metz  immediately  upon  the 
reestablishment  of  peace  with  the  Protestants,  the  French 
were  able  to  beat  him  off  and  retain  possession  of  their 
conquests. 
Abdication  of  The  emperor,  whose  life  was  worn  out  with  his  long 
DrvisionofThe  conflicts  and  labors,  could  not  recover  from  the  blow  of 
dknnhiionl  these  last  disasters.  He  abdicated  his  crown  (1556)  and 
retired  to  the  nionastery^  of  San  Yuste  in  Spain,  where  he 
died  two  years  later.  Hardly  in  the  history  of  the  world 
has  so  proud  a  life  set  so  humbly.  Upon  his  abdication 
the  vast  Hapsburg  possessions,  which  he  had  held  in  his 
sole  hand,  were  divided.  His  son  Philip  got  Spain  (with 
her  colonies),  the  Italian  territory  (P^aples  and  Milan),  and 
the  Netherlands.  His  brother,  Ferdinand,  got  the  Austrian 
lands  and  therewith  the  imperial  crown.  Henceforth  until 
the~extinction  of  the  Spanish  line  (1700)  we  have  in  Europe 
two  Hapsburg  Houses,  a  Spanish  and  an  Austrian  branch. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    PROGRESS    OF    THE    REFORMATION  IN  EUROPE  AND  THE 
COUNTER  REFORMATION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

The  Protestant  Reformation  spread  rapidly  from  Ger-  The  spread  of 
many  over  the  Teutonic  north,  and  even  made  inroads  ^'■otestantism. 
upon  France,  Italy,  and  Spain.  It  met  with  opposition 
everywhere  ;  sometimes  it  was  suppressed,  sometimes  it 
forced  the  governments  to  recognize  it;  but  wherever  it 
raised  its  head,  its  form  was  modified  more  or  less  by  the 
national  character  of  the  people  among  whom  it  appeared, 
and  by  the  local  circumstances. 

The  success  of  the  Reformation  was  most  complete  and  Denmark, 
rapid  in  the  Scandinavian  north.  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden  ac- 
Sweden,  the  three  Scandinavian  powers,  had  been  united  c^ept  Lutheran- 
under  one  king  since  the  Union  of  Calmar  (1397).  At 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  UnionTell  apart, 
Sweden  having  revolted  and  established  her  independence 
under  the  native  house  of  Vasa.  Denmark  and  Norway,  on 
the  other  hand,  remained  united,  under  a  Danish  king, 
down  to  the  time  of  Napoleon.  The  pphtical  confusion 
that  was  occasioned  in  Scandinavia  by  the  struggle  of  Swe- 
den for  independence  favored  the  religious  innovations. 
Within  twenty  years  after  Luther's  proclamation  against 
Indulgences  (151 7^,  the  Lutheran  Church  had  become  the 
sole  and  state  Church  of  all  the  Scandinavian  countries. 
The  north  produced  no  great  reformer  of  its  own,  and 
therefore  accepted  the  Church  of  its  nearest  neighbor,  Ger- 
many. 

47 


48 


Modern  Europe 


TheReforma- 
tion  in  Switzer- 
land.    Ulrich 
Zwingli' 


Religious  di- 
vision of  the 
Swiss. 


The  case  was  different  with  Switzerland.  Switzerland 
consisted,  in  the  sixteenth  century, IdF  a  dozen  or  so  of 
cantons,  all  technically  a  part  of  the  Empire,  but  practi- 
cally constituting  independent  republics,  bound  together  in 
a  very  loose  federation.  In  1518  Ulrich  Zwingli,  a  priest 
of  the  Canton  of  Glarus,  made  an  energetic  protest  against 
the  doctrine  of  Indulgences.  By  transferring  his  activity  to 
Zurich,  the  intellectual  centre  of  the  country,  he  soon  gath- 
ered around  himself  a  powerful  party  of  reform.  His  suc- 
cess in  Switzerland  was  as  immediate  and  signal  as  that  of 
Luther  in  Germany. 

Zwingli  always  maintained  that  he  had  arrived  at  his  re- 
form doctrines  in  complete  independence  of  Luther.  There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  this  assertion  is  true.  It 
simply  goes  to  prove  that  there  was  in  Europe  a  general 
trend  of  opinion  toward  reform.  After  an  attempt  at  a 
union  between  himself  and  Luther  had  failed,  chiefly,  it 
must  be  confessed,  through  Luther's  fault,  Zwingli  estab- 
lished his  own  Reformed  Church  in  Switzerland.^  All 
the  Swiss  cantons,  however,  could  not  be  won  to  the  new 
faith.  The  simple  and  uneducated  foresters  and  mountain- 
eers of  the  upper  Alps  (inhabitants  of  the  so-called  Forest 
Cantons)  remained  stanchly  Catholic.  Only  the  Cantons 
on  the  Swiss  border,  which  were  under  the  influence  of  the 
two  progressive  cities,  Zurich  and  Berne,  accepted  Zwingli 's 
teaching.  In  the  war  between  the  two  faiths  which  fol- 
lowed (1531),  the  Catholic  cantons  won  the  decisive  victory 
of  Cappel.  As  Zwingli  himself  fell  on  this  occasion,  the 
Catholics  might  have  driven  a  hard  bargain.  Nevertheless 
they  concluded  peace  with  the  Protestants  on  the  same  basis 
as  the  Catholics  and  Protestants  of  Germany  did  a  few  years 


>  Zwingli's  Reformed  Church  differed  little  from  the  Lutheran  Church. 
The  only  serious  difference  — a  djffercDce  which  caused  Luther  to  reject 
the  proffered  union — touched  the'doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 


Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe       49 


later  at  Augsburg :  each  local  government  or  canton  was 
allowed  to  accept  or  reject  the  Reformed  faith  as  it  pleased. 
In  consequence  of  this  settlement,  Switzerland,  like  Ger- 
many, is  partly  Catholic  and  partly  Protestant  to  this 
day. 

A  little  after  these  events  in  the  eastern  or  German  part 
of  Switzerland,  there  arose  in  the  western  or  French  part 
another  great  Protestant  leader,  whose  influence  was  des- 
tined to  become  more  wide  than  that  of  Luther  himself. 
This  leader  was  John  Calvin,  and  the  city  which  he  made 
famous  as  the  great  hearth  of  the  new  Protestant  worship 
was  Geneva. 

Geneva,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  oc- 
cupied a  curious  political  position,  which  may  be  qualified 
as  a  half-way  station  between  mediaeval  and  modern  con- 
ditions. The  city,  like  many  another  mediaeval  town,  had 
acquired  a  limited  self-government,  but  its  old  feudal 
masters,  the  duke  of  Savoy  and  the  bishop  of  Geneva,  still 
exercised  over  it  a  number  of  sovereign  rights.  Since  these 
rights  were  irksome  to  the  citizens,  the  Genevese  began 
to  crave  complete  independence ;  they  engaged  in  war, 
and  having,  with  the  aid  of  the  western  cantons  of  the  Swiss 
Confederation,  roundly  beaten  both  the  duke  of  Savoy  and 
the  bishop  of  Geneva,  they  undertook  to  govern  their  city  as 
a  free  community  (1535).  Henceforth  the  republic  of  Ge- 
neva leaned  toward  its  ally,  the  Swiss  Confederation,  but  did 
not  become  a  formal  member  of  it  until  toward  the  end  of 
the  century  (1584).  Meanwhile,  the  war  for  independence, 
engaged  in  by  the  city,  had  been  accompanied  by  a  second 
revolution.  The  feud  against  the  bishop  had  drawn  the 
wrath  of  the  Genevese  upon  the  Catholic  Church  and 
gradually  driven  them  into  the  arms  of  Protestantism.  It 
was  only  after  this  double  revolution,  culminating  in  polit- 
ical freedom  and  in  Protestantism,  had  been  achieved,  that 


The  Reforma- 
tion in  Gene- 
va. 


Geneva         , 

becomes 

independent. 


Geneva 

becomes 

Protestant 


/" 


50 


Modern  Europe 


The  life  of 
Calvin. 


Calvin  comes 
to  Geneva. 


Calvin,  lord  of 
Geneva. 


there  began  the  connection  with  Geneva  of  the  man  who 
gave  the  revolution  in  that  city  its  final  form  and  made  it 
famous. 

It  was  a  stroke  of  chance  which  brought  John  Calvin  to 
Geneva.  He  was  born  in  the  province  of  Picardy,  in 
France,  in  1509,  studied  law,  and  during  his  student  days  at 
Orleans  and  Paris  came  into  contact  with  advocates  of  the 
Reform  movement.  Having  been  forced  in  consequence 
of  his  enthusiastic  acceptance  of  the  new  faith  to  flee  from 
France,  he  spent  his  exile  engaged  in  hard  studies  in 
Germany  and  Switzerland.  He  closed  this  period  of  his 
life  with  the  publication  of  his  theological  masterpiece,  the 
''Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion"  (1536),  which  was 
long  regarded  as  the  completest  doctrinal  justification  of  the 
Protestant  faith  in  existence.  It  was  shortly  after  this  work 
had  appeared  that  he  undertook  a  visit  to  France,  which 
brought  him  for  a  night's  rest  to  Geneva  (1536). 

The  Protestant  faith  had  only  been  introduced  into 
Geneva  the  year  before,  and  was  still  in  a  most  precarious 
condition.  Farel,  the  leading  preacher  of  Geneva,  learn- 
ing of  the  presence  in  the  town  of  the  famous  theologian, 
called  upon  him,  to  engage  him  to  lend  his  aid  in  the 
evangelization  of  the  city.  Calvin  declined  the  offer ;  his 
life  work,  he  told  Farel,  was  marked  out  for  him  ;  it  was 
not  that  of  the  soldier  in  the  ranks,  but  concerned  itself 
with  study  and  scholarship.  Then  Farel  arose  and  solemn- 
ly pronounced  a  curse  upon  him,  for  refusing,  for  the  sake 
of  his  ease,  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord.  The  unexpected 
accusation  shook  Calvin  to  the  very  roots  of  his  nature. 
When  he  spoke  again,  it  was  to  accept  a  place  in  the  band 
of  the  Protestant  workers  of  Geneva. 

The  work  which  Calvin  now  entered  upon  lasted,  with 
the  exception  of  a  short  exile,  until  his  death  (1536-64). 
Hardly  ever  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  a  man  held  a  ^ 


Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe       5 1 

community  so  like  clay  in  his  hands  as  Calvin  did  the  fair 
city  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Leman. 

The  formal  organization  of  the  city  government  he  did  He  establishes 
not  at  once  change,  but  he  profoundly  affected  the  ad-  government, 
ministration  of  affairs  by  impressing  upon  the  governors 
of  the  city  that,  as  the  officials  of  a  Christian  govern- 
ment, they  were  established  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing 
God's  commands.  The  best  interpreters  of  these  com- 
mands, he  insisted,  at  the  same  time,  were  the  clergy. 
From  this  it  would  naturally  follow,  that,  although  the 
Church  was  subject  to  the  state,  yet  the  Church,  through 
the  clergy,  would  practically  dominate  the  state.  It  was 
due  to  the  influence  of  Calvin's  strong  personality,  that 
Geneva  for  many  years  presented  the  rare  spectacle  of 
Church  and  state  working  harmoniously  together,  each 
master  in  certain  respects,  yet  subject  to  the  other  in 
others.  In  modern  times  certainly,  the  theocratic  ideal 
of  government  has  nowhere  else  been  so  completely  real- 
ized. 

Calvin  is  the  father  of  the  Presbyterian  form  of  Church   He  establishes 
government.     In  the  New  Testament  he  found  mention   ^ian  iorm  oP 
made  of  four  distinct  officers — the  teacher,  the  pastor,  the   cEurcTTgov- 

.-       '  ^..,.       '  ernment. 

presbyter,  and  the  deacon.  These  he  regarded  as  divinely 
appoiiitfed  and  therefore  necessary  in  every  true  Church. 
Accordingly,  he  made  his  schools  an  essential  part  of 
the  Church,  and  chose  for  them  the  best  Christian  teachers 
possible.  The  importance  which  he  attached  to  schools 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  ranked  the  teachers  with 
the  pastors.  The  presbyters  (elders)  were  laymen,  whose 
special  duty  was  to  oversee  the  morals  of  the  people ;  the 
deacons  were  intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  poor.  The 
government  of  the  Church,  as  a  whole,  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  teachers,  pastors,  and  presbyters,  who  formed  a  con- 
sistorv  or  presbytery.     In  theory  the  congregation,  also,  had 


52  Modern  Europe 


a   certain   voice   in   the  government,  but    in   Geneva,  at 
least,  if  not  in  other  Calvinistic  Churches,  the  congregation 
was  kept  in  strict  subjection  to  the  consistory.    The  author- 
ity of  the  consistory  in  Church  matters  became  absolute. 
Calvin  super-         Calvin's  chief  concern  was  with  the  morals  of  his  peo- 

vises  the  /-.         •  i    i  ,  i  ^  ^i     .     .      . 

morals.  pie.     Convinced  that  the  grand  purpose  of  Christianity  was 

right  conduct,  he  bent  all  his  energies  toward  securing  it. 
To  this  end,  he  attempted  to  regulate  in  all  its  details  the 
life  of  the  city.  All  kinds  of  amusement  were  forbidden, 
as  likely  to  lead  to  excess  and  sin,  and  fines  were  imposed 
on  every  thoughtless  word  and  deed.  Attendance  on 
prayer-meetings  and  the  singing  of  psalms  were  the  only 
permissible  forms  of  recreation.  The  citizens  were  re- 
quired to  devote  themselves  wholly  to  the  serious  service 
of  God.  Naturally  enough,  not  all  the  people  were  able 
or  willing  to  repress  their  good  spirits,  and  therefore  en- 
deavored to  evade  the  severe  regulations  imposed  upon 
them.  The  consistory  in  such  cases  resorted  to  the  most 
arbitrary  methods,  and  practically  made  of  itself  an  in- 
qiiisitorial  body.  In  everything,  except  the  name,  the 
Inquisition  was  established  in  Geneva,  and  not  without 
bloody  results.  Under  this  pressure  the  gay  and  joyous 
city  assumed  the  character  of  a  staid  monastery.  Calvin 
became  the  fatherof^Piiritaiusnu  ^^^  G_eneva  the  first  Puri- 
tan  congregation. 

The  case  of  The  famous  case  of  Servetus  may  serve  to  remind  us  that 

the  Protestants  were  then  as  far  from  granting  religious  lib- 
erty as  the  Catholics.  Servetus  was  a  learned  physician,^ 
who  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  There  was  a 
literary  quarrel  of  long  standing  between  him  and  Calvin, 
and  when,  in  the  year  1553,  he  ventured,  in  a  foolhardy 
manner,  into  Geneva,  Calvin  had  him  arrested  and  con- 
victed of  heresy.     Letters  were  dispatched  to  all  the  prom- 

^  It  is  said  that  he  discovered  the  circulation  of  the  blood. 


Servetus. 


Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe       53 


inent  Protestant  teachers  and  preachers  of  Europe,  and  all 
were  unanimous  in  declaring  that  Servetus  should  suffer 
death  for  denying  what  they  were  bound  to  consider  an  es- 
sential doctrine  of  their  faith.  He  was  accordingly  burned 
at  the  stake  (1553). 

The  fame  of  Calvin  and  his  reformed  city  spread  over  The  spread 
all  Europe,  and  thousands  of  exiles  from  Catholic  lands 
fled  thither.  Geneva  became  a  city  of  refuse  to  all  the 
distressed  Protestants  of  France,  England,  Scotland,  and 
the  Netherlands.  Calvin  labored  for  the  spread  of  his 
doctrines  in  all  these  lands,  and  aided  the  exiles  to  return 
and  work  secretly  as  missionaries  of  the  Reformed  faith. 
In  this  way,  and  with  the  aid  of  other  circumstances,  he 
was  able  to  replace  the  influence  of  Luther  in  all  of  the 
countries  west^f  thejlhine,  and  even  in  parts  of  Germany 
itself,  and  to  introduce  into  them  his  type  of  Protestantism. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  success  of  the  Reformation 
this  was  entirely  well.  For  toward  the  middle  of  the 
century,  Catholicism  was  marshaling  its  forces  for  an  at-  ^  /-^  ^' 
tack  upon  its  revolted  subjects,  and  the  combative  Calvin- 
ism was  much  better  suited  than  the  pliant  Lutheranism  to 
meet  and  rout  the  enemy. 

Ever  since  the  thirteenth  century,  there  had  been  heard  The  Catholic 
in  all  parts  of  Europe,  loud  and  frequent  calls  for  a  reform  back  upon^ts 
of   the  Catholic    Church.      But  the   Popes,  regardless  of  P^*^*  [  ,    . 

complaints,  had  gone  their  own  way,  seeking  after  wealth       L^o-v^    jiJ"^ 
and  political   power.     This   secular   policy   produced   its   jxf^^'^ 
legitimate  fruit  in  such  Popes  as  Alexander  VI.,  Julius  II.,  I         i 

and  Leo  X.,  who  were,  in  a  certain  sense,  capable  men,  but 
lacked  all  claims  to  personal  holiness.  At  length,  toward 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Catholic  Church,  \^ >S  O 
yielding"f61Tie  reforming  spirit,  and  determined  to  coun- 
teract the  movement  begun  by  Luther,  instituted  a  series  of 
relormatory  measures. 


54 


Modern  Europe 


The  reform  of 
the  Papacy. 


Symptoms  of 
the  revival  of 
Catholic  life. 


This  Counter-Reformation  in  the  Catholic  Church,  with- 
out changing  the  hierarchy  or  the  doctrines,  nevertheless 
brought  about  a  real  religious  revival,  especially  among  the 
Catholic  clergy,  and  filled  that  body  with  new  earnestness 
and  zeal.  The  Popes  themselves  had  been  very  slow  to  ob- 
serve the  change  in  the  religious  atmosphere  of  Europe  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  They  lingered  in 
the  Renaissance  and  its  pleasant  byways  long  after  the  rest 
of  Europe  had  grown  agitated  over  the  question  of  saving 
its  soul.  Leo  X.  (15 13-21)  paid  no  attention  to  the 
Reformation,  and  had  the  courage  to  pronounce  the  aston- 
ishing opinion  that  it  was  a  mere  brawl  begun  by  a  drunken 
monk.  Hadrian  VI.  (1522-23),  his  successor,  who  was  a 
northerner  by  birth  and  acquainted  with  the  northern  pas- 
sion for  reform,  was  deeply  in  earnest,  and  sent  his  legate 
to  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg  with  a  written  confession  of  the 
shortcomings  of  the  Papacy ;  but  death  cut  short  his  pon- 
tificate, and  his  successors  remained  untouched  by  the  re- 
ligious change  and  indifferent  to  the  increasingly  earnest 
temper  of  Europe  till  the  accession  of  Paul  IV.  (1555-59). 
Paul  IV.  was  the  first  Pope_who  fully  perceived  the  pre- 
carious  condition  of  the  Church.  Without  countenancing 
the  least  change  in  the  Catholic  system,  he  nevertheless  in- 
augurated an  era  of  reform  by  quietly  abandoning  many  of 
the  abuses^about  which  there  had  been  so  much  complaint. 
With  him  begins  a  long  series  of  Popes  who,  in  contrast  to 
the  easy  manner  of  life  fashionable  with  the  Renaissance 
Popes,  maintained  a  vigorous  moral  code  and  devoted  them- 
selves with  eager  zeal  to  ecclesiastical  interests. 

Prominent  symptoms  of  a  change  in  the  temper  of 
Catholicism  were  the  translation  of  the  Bible  under  Cath- 
olic direction  into  the  popular  tongues,  its  circulation 
among  the  Catholic  laityj  the  enrichment  of  the  Church 
services  by  the  introduction  of  the  singing  of  hymns  in  the 


^:^--.a 


,....>-~::lCj^ 


Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe        55 

vernacular  by  the  congregation,  and  more  frequent  ad- 
dresses and  sermons.  The  revival  showed  itself  also  in  the 
formation  of  several  new  religious  orders,  such  as  the 
Theatines_(i524)  and  the  Capuchins  (1525).     The  mem-  ^w^^ 

bers  of  these  new  orders  tried  to  exemplify  the  teachings  of        ;'  '    ^'^ 
Jesus  in  their  daily  lives,  and  devoted  themselves  to  prac-  q^   _  . 

tical  Christian  work,  preaching,  teaching,  and  caring  for 
the  poor  and  the  sick.  Their  pure  lives  and  their  zeal  did 
much  to  restore  the  religious  life  of  the  Catholic  peoples. 

Of  all  the  orders  of  the  Counter- Reformation  the  Order  The  Order 
of  the  Jesuits,  or  ''  Regiment  of  Jesus,"  was,  however,  jesuiis. 
destined  to  play  by  far  the  most  important  role.  It  at- 
tained an  immense  membership,  influenced  the  Councils  of 
the  Church,  and,  by  its  clever  missionary  work,  won  back 
to  the  Catholic  faith  many  provinces  which  had  accepted 
the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation.  Its  founder,  Ignatius  . 
Loyola,  was  a  Spanish  nobleman  whose  highest  ideal  was 
that  of  a  soldier  until,  in  consequence  of  a  severe  wound 
received  in  the  service  of  the  king,  his  master  (1521),  he 
chanced  to  read  some  ''Lives  of  the  Saints."  These  so 
fired  his  imagination  that  he  became  filled  with  the  desire 
to  emulate  the  Christian  heroes.  His  first  efforts  were 
wildly  romantic  and  fruitless.  He  eventually  saw  that  his 
education  was  not  sufficient,  and  at  thirty-three  years  of 
age  he  began  to  study  Latin,  philosophy,  and  theology. 
While  at  school  in  Paris  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  some 
kindred  spirits,  and  with  them  he  founded  his  new  society 
(1534),  for  the  purpose,  at  first,  of  doing  missionary  work 
among  the  Mohammedans.  Circumstances  prevented  the 
sailing  of  the  enthusiasts  for  the  Orient,  whereupon  they 
resolved  to  go  to  Rome  to  offer  their  services  to  the  Pope 
and  also  to  secure  his  sanction  for  their  order.  In  1540, 
after  considerable  hesitation.  Pope  Paul  III.  confirmed^he"' 
order  and  the  rules  which  Loyola  had  composed  for  it. 


56 


Modern  Europe 


The  organiza- 
tion of  the 
Jesuits. 


The  activities 
of  the  Jesuits. 


(- 


Loyola  modelled  his  order  after  the  army.  Its  funda- 
mental principle  was  discipline.  By  a  clever  system  of  in- 
struction which  had  regard  for  individual  peculiarities,  the 
candidates  for  the  order  were  so  trained  as  to  become  un- 
hesitating and  obedient  tools  in  the  hands  of  their  master. 
Since  they  took  a  special  vow  of  obedience  to  the  Pope, 
this  ruler  soon  saw  their  usefulness,  and  by  heaping  the  or- 
der with  honors,  rights,  and  privileges,  quickly  made  it  the 
most  powerful  one  in  Europe. 

The  Jesuits  engaged  in  every  kind  of  activity.  They  were 
famous  preachers  and  confessors,  and  became  especially  ex- 
pert in  dealing  with  the  Catholic  conscience  and  in  caring 
for  souls.  They  carried  on  foreign  mission  work  on  a  grand 
scale,  planting  their  stations  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Realizing  that  youth  is  the  most  impressionable  age,  they 
fostered  education.  By  their  superior  methods  of  instruc- 
tion they  attracted  to  their  schools  the  best  young  men  of 
the  time,  and  instilled  into  them  the  doctrines  of  their  faith. 
For  more  than  a  hundred  years  they  led  Europe  in  educa- 
tion.")  They  devoted  themselves  also  to  politics  and  be- 
came cunning^diplomats  and  intriguers.  Everywhere  they 
made  themselves  felt,  and  it  was  due  in  great  measure  to 
their  comprehensive  and  untiring  efforts,  that  Protestantism 
was  destroyed  in  Italy,  Spain,  France,  Poland,  and  in  the 
dominions  of  the  Hapsburgs,  and  that  these  lands  remained 
attached  to  the  Catholic  Church.  }  Even  in  the  Protes- 
tant countries,  Germany,  England,  and  Scandinavia,  the 
Jesuits  were  able  tjo  bring  their  Church  into  prominence 
again,  and  to  put  into  jeopardy  the  existence  of  the  Re- 
formed Churches.  Their  work  in  the  high  places  of  the 
world  was  especially  successful,  and  in  the  course  of  the 


seventeenth  century,  /'Germany  was  startled  by  the  news 
of  the  return  of  many  a  Protestant  prince  to  the  bosom  of 
mother  Church. )   Among  their  greatest  triumphs  is  the  cop- 


V 


Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe       57 

version  of  the  Stuarts  and  of  the  electoral  House  of  that 
country,  Saxony,  which  was  the  cradle  of  the  Reformation. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  factor  of  the  Counter -Ref-  The  Council 
ormation  was  the  Council  of  Trent.  The  Council  of  Trent  °  '^^^^*- 
(in  session  at  intervals,  1545-63),  rendered  the  Catholic 
Church  the  signal  service  of  unifying  the  Catholic  doc- 
trines as  they  had  never  been  unified  before.  In  the  body 
of  the  tradition  of  the  Catholic  Church  there  were  many 
conflicting  tendencies  and  records.  These  differences  the 
Council  of  Trent  removed,  and  then  formulated  the  Cath- 
olic creed  anew,  in  sharp  opposition  to  the  doctrines  set 
up  by  the  Protestants.  There  were  many  Catholics  present 
at  this  Council  who  were  inclined  to  a  compromise  with 
the  Protestants  for  the  sake  of  making  the  Church  one 
again,  but  the  strict  papal  party,  under  the  leadership  of 
the  Jesuits,  was  able  to  prevent  the  Council  from  making 
any  concession.  The  acts  of  this  Council  now  constitute 
the  creed  of  the  Catholic  Church^  Only" a  few  important 
additions  have  since  been  made  ;  such  are,  for  instance, 
the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  which  was  announced  in  the  year  1854,  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope,  which  was  promul- 
gated at  the  Council  of  the  Vatican,  in  the  year  1870. 

The  last  important  factor  which  contributed  to  the 
success  of  the  Counter-Reformation,  was  the  Inquisition. 
The  Inquisition,  called  also  the  sanctum  officium  (Holy  The  Inquisi- 
Office),  was  an  ecclesiastical  court,  established  for  the  pur-  *^°"* 
pose  of  tracing  and  punishing  heresy.  The  penalty,  which 
the  judges  or  inquisitors  pronounced,  was  usually  confisca- 
tion of  property  or  death,  and  was  executed  by  the  civil 
authorities.  The  Inquisition  was  not  an  invention  of  the 
Counter-Reformation.  In  a  mild  form  it  existed  through- 
out the  Middle  Age.  Pope  Innocent  III.  (11 98-1 2 16) 
first  organized  it  effectively,  and  had  himself  the  pleasure 


58  Modern  Europe 


of  seeing  its  complete  success  against  the  Albigenses. 
Naturally,  the  zealots  of  the  Counter-Reformation  began 
early  to  urge  its  employment  against  the  heretical  followers 
of  Luther  and  Calvin.  Owing,  however,  to  the  abhorrence 
with  which  the  Inquisition,  because  of  its  terrible  and  vague 
prerogative,  filled  the  people,  and  owing  further  to  the 
jealousy  of  the  governments,  which  dreaded  the  interference 
of  an  ecclesiastical  court,  this^  engine  of  repressipn\was  not 
everywhere  admitted.  A  notable  activity  it  exhibited  only 
in  Spain,  Italy,  and  the  Netherlands.  In  the  last-named 
country  it  produced  quite  the  opposite  effect  of  that  in- 
tended;  but  in^talyand  Spain  it  operated  with  such  com- 
plete success,  that  the  Reformation  no  sooner  showed  in 
those  countries  signs  of  life  than  it  was  crushed. 


CHAPTER  III 

SPAIN  UNDER  CHARLES  I.  (1516-56),  KNOWN  AS  EM- 
PEROR CHARLES  V,,  AND  PHILIP  II.  (l 5 56-98);  HER 
WORLD    EMINENCE   AND    HER   DECAY 

From  the  Spanish  national  point  of  view,  it  was  a  great  The  reign  of 
misfortune  that  Charles  I.  (1516-56)  was  elected  to  the  1516-56.  ' 
Empire  in  15 19,  and  became  Emperor  Charles  V.  Hence- 
forth, having  duties  to  perform  in  Germany,  he  could  no 
longer  give  his  whole  time  to  Spain.  In  fact,  from  the 
time  of  his  imperial  election,  he  seems  gradually  to  have 
lost  sight  of  the  national  point  of  view;  he  became,  above 
all,  desirous  of  playing  a  grand  European  role,  and  that 
naturally  brought  with  it  a  division  of  his  service  and  a 
perpetual  compromise  of  the  interests  of  all  the  nations 
which  he  represented.  Now  the  interests  of  Spain  and 
Germany  were  not  necessarily  opposed.  One  great  inter- 
est, the  defeat  of  the  Turks,  who  were  pushing  along  the 
Danube  into  Germany,  and  along  the  Mediterranean  toward 
Spain,  they  even  had  in  common  ;  but  what  had  Germany 
to  do  with  the  emperor's  Italian  wars  or  his  colonial  pol- 
icy, and  what  benefit  did  Spain  derive  from  his  life-long 
struggle  against  Protestantism  ?  Moreover,  Charles  being 
the  absolute  monarch  of  Spain,  the  governmental  machin- 
ery was  utterly  dependent  upon  his  direction,  and  yet, 
of  a  reign  of  forty  years,  he  spent  in  Spain  hardly  fifteen. 
It  is  true  he  was  the  greatest  political  figure  of  his  day  and 
his  fellow-actors  upon  the  European  stage  shrank  to  pigmy 
size  when  he  made  his  entrance  ;  it  is  true,  he  was  of  tire- 

59 


6o  Moderfi  Europe 


less  activity  and  with  all  seriousness  tried  to  live  up  to  the 
demands  which  the  old  illusory  ideal  of  the  emperor,  the 
arbiter  of  the  world,  made  upon  him  ;  but  it  is  also  true 
that  his  grandeur  was  a  personal  grandeur,  and  not  identi- 
fied with  the  nation,  as  is  the  case  with  the  world's  great 
sovereigns,  for  instance,  Elizabeth  of  England  and  Henry 
IV.  of  France.  In  a  word,  Charles  used  the  Spanish  re- 
sources for  his  own,  and  not  for  Spanish  ends. 
The  beginning  Because  of  Charles's  half-hearted  devotion  to  Spain,  Spain 
of  Spain.'^^^  suffered  irremediable  internal  injuries  during  his  outwardly 
brilliant  reign.  In  fact,  her  gradual  decay  may  be  dated 
from  his  time.  To  prove  this,  we  need  only  examine  the 
events  of  Charles's  history.  We  have  heard  of  the  emper- 
or's long  wars  against  the  French  and  the  Turks  in  con- 
nection with  his  reign  in  Germany.  These  wars  were 
waged  notably  with  Spanish  men  and  Spanish  money  ; 
without  bringing  an  adequate  return  they  drained  the  coun- 
try of  its  blood  and  of  its  gold.  Further,  the  absolutism 
which  under  Ferdinand  had  been  employed  against  the 
nobles  and  had  stood  for  order  and  progress,  came  to  be 
used  under  Charles  as  an  instrument  of  popular  repression. 
Thus,  when  at  the  outset  of  Charles's  reign  there  was  a 
great  revolt  of  the  cities,  it  was  suppressed  (15  21)  with 
terrible  severity,  and  the  liberties  which  the  towns  had 
hitherto  enjoyed  were  practically  annulled.  The  Parlia- 
ment (Cortes)  of  Castile,  too,  was  condemned  to  a  l^s_of 
its  dignity  and  influence.  A  people  which  loses  its  polit- 
ical rights  is  in  danger  of  losing,  sooner  or  later,  its  vitality. 
And  to  make  things  worse,  in  the  place  of  the  free  institu- 
tions which  Charles  ruined,  there  arose,  more  threatening 
than  ever,  the  colossal  instrument  of  religious  and  political 
tyranny,  the  Inquisition.  The  cruel  executions  of  Moors 
and  Jews,  which  had  been  popularized  under  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  continued,  with  the  same  zest,  under  Charles. 


Spain   Under  Charles  I  and  Philip  II        6i 

Whatever  else  pertaining  to  Charles's  reign  was  unpopular, 
these  holocausts  of  heretical  victims  the  sincere  and  fervid 
intolerance  of  the  Spanish  people  accepted  with  entire 
satisfaction. 

What  could  Protestantism  hope  of  such  a  country,  de-  Protestantism 
voted  to  its  faith  with  mediaeval  fanaticism  ?  True,  small  ^"  ^^^^' 
groups  of  Lutherans  began  to  form  here  and  there,  notably 
in  Seville  and  Valladolid.  But  when  Charles  first  heard 
of  them,  seized  with  incontroUable  rage,  he  ordered  the 
inquisitors  to  pluck  out  the  heresy,  root  and  branch.  So 
Protestantism  got  no  foothold  in  Spain. 

The  last  thirteen  years  of  his  reign  Charles  spent  in  Ger-   Philip  II. 
many.     The   Protestant  successes  there  broke  his  spirit,   the  kingdom 
and  he  resigned  his  crowns  in  1556,  Spain  to  his  son  Philip,   o^ Spam. 
Austria  to  his  brother  Ferdinand  (see  Chapter  I.,  page  46). 
Philip  II.  (1556-98)  on  his  accession  found  himself  at  the 
head  of  states  (Spain  and  colonies,   Naples,   Milan,  and 
the  Netherlands)  hardly  less  extensive  than   those  which 
Charles  had  governed,  and  as  he  did  not  become  emperor, 
he  had,  from  the  Spanish  point  of  view,  the  great  excel- 
lence over  Charles,  that  he  was  a  national  king.     As  such, 
he  endeared  himself  to  his  people  and  still_  lives  in  their 
niemory. 

It  is  curious  that  this  same  Philip,  whom  the  Spaniards  The  character 
esteem  so  highly,  should  stand  before  the  rest  of  Europe  as  °  1  ip  • 
the  darkest  tyrant  and  most  persistent  enemy  of  light  and 
^progress  whom  the  age  produced.  To  this  traditional  Euro- 
pean picture  there  certainly  belongs  a  measure  of  truth ; 
but  calm  investigation  teaches  us  that  this  truth  is  asso- 
ciated with  prejudice  and  distorted  by  exaggeration. 
Philip  11,  was  a  severe,  cold,  and  narrow-minded  man, 
whose  heart  was  in  the  Catholic  faith  and  whose  hand  was 
at  its  service.  Therefore  his  guiding  thought,  while  there 
was  life  in  him,  was  to  maintain  that  faith — by  bloody  re- 


62  Modern  Europe 


pression  of  heresy  through  the  Inquisition,  where  he  had 
the  power ;  by  war,  where  war  was  Hkely  to  prove  feasible. 
Every  Protestant  when  he  thinks  of  Phihp  II.  thinks  of 
the  Inquisition.  But  the  Inquisition  was  not  PhiHp's  in- 
vention, nor  did  he,  although  he  made  a  revolting  use  of 
it,  handle  it  more  cruelly  than  his  predecessors.  Indeed  a 
close  scrutiny  of  his  life  will  convince  us  that  the  title 
*' Demon  of  the  South,"  which  his  enemies  popularized, 
does  him  too  much  injury  and  also  too  much  honor.  Too 
much  honor,  for  he  no  more  possessed  a  demon-like  fire 
and  resolution  than  he  was  governed  by  the  abominable 
vices  traditionally  associated  with  the  Prince  of  Darkness. 
He  was  rather  a  slow,  plodding  burgher,  who  took  his 
business  of  kingship  very  seriously,  and  who,  but  for  his 
radical  intolerance,  would  have  been  as  foreign  to  any 
kind  of  enthusiasm  as  the  head  of  a  bank.  He  passed  his 
days  and  his  nights  over  state  affairs.  Every  document 
had  to  go  through  his  own  hands.  Historians  who  have 
examined  his  papers  declare  it  incredible  that  so  much  matter 
should  have  been  written  by  one  man  in  one  lifetime.  In 
fact,  work  was  his  failing,  for  work  with  him  degenerated 
into  the  rage  for  minutiae,  and  ended  by  enfeebling  his 
grasp  of  essentials.  In  other  respects,  too,  the  comparison 
of  this  ogre  of  the  Protestant  mythology  with  a  good 
typical  burgher  proves  applicable.  Out  of  business  hours 
he  was  a  tender  and  devoted  father.^  His  letters  to  his 
daughters  during  an  occasional  absence  are  amiable,  and  in 
their  own  stately  way  even  humorous. 
Philip  as  the  It  is  true  that  Philip  became  the  champion  of  the  Ca- 

Catholicism.      tholic  reaction,  which  is  to  say  that  he  identified  himself 
with  the  greatest  movement  of  his  half  of  the  century  and 


»  His  conduct  toward  his  son,  Don^Carlos,  has  been  the  cause  of 
frequent  defamation  of  his  name.  "'fhe~belieT'now  is  that  his  attitude 
was  moderate  and  even  admirable.  Philip  did  not  put  his  son  under  arrest 
until  the  plots  and  madness  of  Carlos  threatened  the  safety  of  the  state. 


Spain   Under  Charles  I  and  PJiilip  II        63 


rushed  into  war  with  the  Protestant  world  of  the  north. 
Catholic  intolerance,  doubtless,  led  him  to  take  delight  in 
this  role,  but  he  was  far  removed  from  being  controlled  in 
the  conflict,  like  his  father,  Charles,  by  the  mainspring  of 
mere  ambition.  An  impartial  student  must  agree  that  his 
wars  were  as  much  forced  upon  him  by  Protestant  aggres- 
sion and  the  logical  progress  of  events,  as  determined  by  his 
own  Catholic  impulses.  (As  things  stood,  after  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent,  a  great  R-otestant-Catholic  world-war  was 
inevitable.  ]  It  came  by  way  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands. 
The  Netherlands  revolted,  and  Philip  set  about  putting 
down  the  revolt.  His  measures  there  were  barbarous ; 
they  were  the  traditional  Spanish  measures,  the  rack  and 
the  fagot ;  worst  of  all,  from  the  political  point  of  view, 
they  proved  inadequate  in  the  end.  The  Netherlands  could 
not  be  pacified  by  Philip,  and  gradually  won  the  sympa- 
thies and  secured  the  aid  of  the  French  Huguenots  and 
the  German  and  English  Protestants.  So  the  war  widened; 
finding  herself  opposed  in  the  Netherlands  by  the  united 
Protestant  peoples,  Spain,  in  order  to  secure  the  Catholic 
sympathies,  put  herself  forward  as  the  champion  of  the 
Pope  and  of  Catholicism. 

It  is  from  this  stand-point  of  the  inevitableness  of  the  The  Dutch 
religious  struggle  that  Philip's  wars  should  be  considered. ^   PhUip  w^ith^tht 
They  all  centre  about  the  war  with  the  Netherlands.     This   English, 
famous  war  will  be  treated  in  detail  in  another  chapter. 
It  began  soon  after  Philip's  accession,  and  turned  to  the 
advantage  of  the   Dutch,  largely  because  they  succeeded 
in  interesting  the  whole  Protestant  world  in  their  heroic 
struggle.     Protestantism  gradually  becoming  aware  of  the 


'  A  war  with  France  (1556-59),  which  took  place  at  the  beginning  of  his 
reign,  for  purely  political  reasons,  deserves  to  be  kept  distinct  from  these 
later  wars,  all  of  which  have  a  certain  religious  character.  This  war  was 
a  triumph  for  Philip,  and  was  conclu^^ed  by  the  Treaty  of  Cateau-Cam- 
bresis  (1550)  ;  it  is  memorable  as  the  last  great  success  of  Spain  against 
France.     Henceforth  the  tables  are  turned. 


64  Modern  Europe 


\ri. 


Catholic  reaction,  came  to  feel  itself  threatened  in  its  very 
existence  by  the  power  of  Spain,  the  avowed  champion  of 
that  reaction.  Closely  and  more  closely  the  Protestant 
peoples  crowded  about  brave  Holland.  Philip  saw  himself 
gradually  engaged  in  a  world-war ;  to  the  war  with  the 
Dutch  rebels  was  added  a  war  with  the  French  Hugue- 
nots under  Henry  of  Navarre,  and  a  war  with  the  England 
of  Elizabeth.  Furiously  Phihp  turned  at  length  upon  his 
leading  Protestant  enemy,  upon  England. 
The  Armada,  The  height  of  the  struggle  between  Spain  and  England 
.  ,     '  -  was  the  sending  of  the  great  fleet,  the  Armada,  against  the 

/  X>^^y'       heretic  island-kingdom  (1588).     The  Atlantic  waters  had 
'^  ,vr,         never  seen  the  like  ;  but  the  expedition  failed  miserably  by 
reason  of  the  superior  skill  and  audacity  of  the  English 
sailors  and  the  disasters  caused  by  wind  and  water.     Philip 
bore  his  defeat  with  dignified  resignation.     He  spoke  un- 
affectedly of  the  deep  grief  it  caused  him  "  not  to  be  able 
to  render  God  this  great  service. ' '     But  the  destruction  of 
the  Armada  settled  the  fate  of  the  religious  war.     It  deter-  / 
/  mined  that  the  Dutch  should  not  be  reconquered ;  it  es- 
Z  tablished  the  Protestant  world  henceforth  securely  against  ^ 
the  Catholic  reaction  ;  and  it  prepared  a  naval  successor    " 
s^  for  degenerate  Spain  in  youthful  England?N 

The  Dutch  and  the  English  were  -riot  Philip's  only 
enemies.  Worse  heretics  than  the  Protestants,  the  Moham- 
medan Turks,  engaged  his  attention  during  his  whole  reign. 
The  Turks  were  then,  and  continued  for  some  generations 
to  be,  the  terror  of  the  west.  Austria,  Venice,  and  Spain 
suffered  most  heavily  from  their  raids  and  conquests.  The 
Mohammedan  pirates  of  northern  Africa  constantly  plun- 
dered the  Spanish  coasts  ;  bit  by  bit  the  Turks  reduced  the 
Venetian  possessions  in  the  east ;  and  foot  by  foot  they 
pushed  across  Transylvania  and  Hungary  toward  Ger- 
many.    Finally,  in  their  great  need,  the  Pope,  Venice,  and 


Spain   Under  Charles  I  and  Philip  II 


Spain  formed  an  alliance  (15 71),  and  in  the  same  year  their 
united  fleet  ^  won  a  brilliant  victory  over  the  Turks,  off" 
Lepanto,  in  Greece.  The  commander-in-chief  of  the  Philip's  wars 
Christians  was  the  young  and  talented  Don  Tohn  of  Aus-  xurks.^ 
tria,  a  half-brother  of  Philip  II.  His  genius  and  Philip's  Lepanto. 
own  energy  in  raising  supplies  contributed  the  largest  share 
to  the  triumph.  Hardly  more  than  thirty  Turkish  vessels 
escaped  the  ruin  ;  30,000  Turks  were  killed,  12,000  Chris- 
tian rowers  freed  from  slavery.  The  victory  brought  neither 
Spain  nor  Christendom  any  great  immediate  benefits,  but 
the  Mohammedan  sea-power  was  checked,  and  though  still 
threatening  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  to  come,  fell 
from  this  time  into  a  gradual  decline.  ( Lepanto  is  one  of 
the  proud  moments  of  the  history  of  Philip  and  of  Spain.  \ 
But  a  greater  triumph  than  Lepanto  even  was  Philip's 
ac2uisition_of  Portugal.  Still,  it  cannot  be  said  that  this 
success  was  due  to  any  special  cleverness  of  his  own,  Por- 
tugal was  the  only  state  of  the  peninsula  of  the  Pyrenees 
which  Spain  had  not  yet  absorbed.  Frequent  marriages 
between  the  royal  Houses  had,  however,  prepared  a  union 
of  the  two  states.  In  1580  the  last  native  king  of  Portugal 
died,  and  Philip,  who  had  a  fair  claim,  thereupon  took  pos-  Philip 
session  of  the  state  and  of  her  colonies.  The  Portuguese,  ponujal. 
proud  of  their  nationality  and  their  achievements  during 
the  Age  of  Discoveries,  accepted  the  yoke  of  the  greater 
state  unwillingly.  The  memories  of  Portuguese  indepen- 
dence would  not  perish,  and  after  Spain  had  entered  upon 
its  decline,  and  only  forty  years  after  Philip's  death,  Portugal 
rose  and  won  back  her  freedom,  under  a  new  royal  House, 
the  House  of  Braganza  (1^0).  Since  then  Portugal  and 
Spain  have  never  been  united. 

The  battle  of  Lepanto  brought  an  immense  mass  of  ships  into  action.  \ 
The  Turks  and  Christians  had  about  the  same  number  of  galleys,  more  I 
than  two  hundred  each.  But  the  Turks  had  in  addition  many  lighter  / 
vessels.     On  the  other  hand,  the  Christian  ships  were  better  manned.      / 


66  Modern  Europe 


PhHip's  inter-  If  Philip's  career  as  champion  of  CathoHcism  was,  on 
the  whole,  an  unsuccessful  one,  his  internal  rule  was  hard- 
ly more  fortunate.  There  had  already  been  a  perceptible 
decay  of  agriculture  and  commerce  under  Charles.  Under 
Philip  the  decline  continued.  The  farms  lay  deserted  ; 
the  roads  were  neglected  and  soon  untravelled.  Then  by 
the  extermination  of  the  Moors  or  Moriscoes,  ordered  under 
Philip,  the  country  lost  its  most  industrious  element ;  the 
terrible  Inquisition,  employed  against  these  people,  turned 
Granada  and  the  south,  which,  under  Mohammedan  rule, 
had  bloomed  like  a  valley  of  Paradise,  into  a  cemetery.  The 
Jews^on  being  persecuted  because  of  their  faith,  carried 
elsewhere  their  capital  and  energy.  Finally,  the  heavy 
yoke  of  absolutism  crushed  all  independence  of  thought  and 
action.  Thus  the  Spanish  monarch  himself,  by  depriving 
the  people  of  the  exercise  of  their  political  intelligence,  by 
crushing  their  initiative  in  business  enterprise,  and  by  per- 
secuting the  industrious  foreigners,  the  Moriscoes  and  Jews, 
condemned  his  own  country  to  death  by  dry-rot. 

Reasons  of  the       Inguisitipn  and  absolutism — these  are  the  names  of  the 

^  p^nis  e-  (^i^jgf  diseases  which  racked  the  body  of  the  Spanish  nation. 
As  they  are  associated  with  the  central  power,  it  is  natural 
to  ascribe  the  decline  of  Spain  solely  to  her  bigoted,  unwise 
kings.  It  is  true  her  kings  are  guilty,  but  let  us  remember 
that  no  people  dies  by  its  kings  alone  ;  a  people  dies  or 
lives  by  its  own  strength  or  weakness.  Judged  by  this 
truth,  the  Spanish  character  is  largely  responsible  for  the 
dissolution  of  the  Spanish  power.  To  their  native  intoler- 
ance, which  cut  the  Spaniards  off  from  all  new  ideas,  was 
added  a  lordly  pride  and  a  southern  indolence,  which  ren- 
dered them  disdainful  and  incapable  of  steady,  saving  work. 

Philip  III.  and       Philip  III.  (i 598-1621),  who  succeeded  Philip  II.,  was 

'  '**     ■  an  utterly  incapable  man.     In  1609  he  was  forced  to  bend 

his  pride  in  a  way  in  which  his  father  had   refused  to  do. 


Spain   Under  Charles  and  Philip  II  67 

and  conclude  with  the  rebel  Dutch  a  twelve  years'  truce. 
It  was  a  public  acknowledgment  of  Spain's  decline. 
Under  Phihp  IV.  (1621-65)  the  country  dropped  def- 
initely to  the  second  and  third  rank  among  European 
powers  in  consequence  of  the  disgraceful  treaties  of  West- 
jphalia  (1.648)  ^  and  of  the  Pyrenees  (1659)  ^  which  closed 
her  long  wars  with  the  Netherlands  and  with  France.  In 
1659  the  political,  social,  and  material  dechne  of  Spain 
was  patent  to  every  observer. 

It  is  an  unsolved  problem  why,  during^Jhe_decline  of  Spanish  cult- 
Spain  under  the  Philips,  there  should  have  been  a  literary 
and  artistic  activity,  such  as  few  countries  have  ever  en- 
joyed. Spain  created  a  great  national  literature  (Cervantes, 
d.  1616,  the  author  of  ''Don  Quixote;  "  Lope  de  Vega, 
d.  1635,  and  Calderon,  d.  1681,  dramatic  authors)  and  a 
•great  national  art  (Velasquez,  d.  1660,  and  Murillo,  d. 
1682).  ;7/X  ClW^ 

» See  Chapter  VII.  a  See  Period  II. ,  Chapter  II. 


CHAPTER   IV 

ENGLAND  UNDER  THE  TUDORS  (1485-1603)  ;  FINAL 
TRIUMPH  OF  THE  REFORMATION  UNDER  ELIZABETH 
(1559-1603) 

Henry  VIII. ,  i^og-1541. 


The  character 
of  Henry  Vlil. 


The  English 
hun/anists. 


Henry  VH.  ,  the  first  Tudor  monarch  and  creator  of  the 
"strong  monarchy,"  died  in  1509,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Henry  VlH.  Henry  VXII.  was  under  twenty  years 
of  age  at  his  accession.  ■  He  was  a  young  man  of  attractive 
presence,  skilled  in  gentlemanly  sports,  such  as  riding  and 
tennis,  condescending  with  all  people,  free-handed  and 
fond  of  pageantry,  and  altogether  the  idol  of  his  nation, 
which  received  him  with  acclamations  of  joy.  And  not  least 
exultant  over  his  coming  to  power  were  the  English  hu- 
manistSk.  For  Henry  had  been  brought  into  the  circle  of 
the  new  learning  by  his  tutors,  and  was  reputed  to  be  fa- 
vorably inclined  toward  it. 

The  chief  English  humanists  have  already  been  men- 
tioned. They  were  John  Colet,  Sir  Thomas  More,  and 
finally  Erasmus,  who,  because  he  lived  a  long  time  in 
England,  may  be  associated  with  his  English  friends,  al- 
though he  was  born  at  Rotterdam  and  found  the  chief  field 
of  his  activity  on  the  Continent.  These  men,  with  a 
number  of  others  of  the  same  free  disposition,  spread  over 
England,  by  written  and  spoken  word,  the  fervently  ac- 
cepted gospel,  partly  original  with  them  and  partly  bor- 
rowed from  Italy,  of  the  new  classical  learning.     It   in- 

68 


England  Under  the   Tudors  69 

eluded  the  communication  of  the  spiritual  philosophy  of 
Plato  and  the  plan  of  a  reformed  and  simple  Christian  life, 
based  on  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament.  Because 
the  University  of  Oxford  became  a  seat  of  humanistic  in- 
fluence, the  humanists  are  known  generally  in  England  as 
the  Oxford  reformers. 

The  Oxford  reformers,  like  Hutten  and  Reuchlin  in  Theaspira- 
Germany,  performed  the  important  service  in  England  of  humanists, 
clearing  the  way  for  the  Reformation.  The  mediaeval 
darkness  was,  perhaps,  thicker  here  than  elsewhere,  and 
therefore  much  greater  efforts  were  required  to  clear  the 
scholastic  rubbish  out  of  the  schools,  to  direct  theology 
away  from  profitless  doctrinal  discussions  to  the  living 
sources  of  life  flowing  in  the  Bible,  and  to  render  men's 
minds  capable  of  enjoying  the  beauties  of  the  ancient  liter- 
atures. Colet's  attention  was  especially  given  to  the  crea- 
tion of  a  new  boys'  school.  With  his  own  fortune  he 
founded  the  school  of  St.  Paul's,  where  affectionate  interest 
displaced  the  old  magisterial  brutality,  and  Greek  and  Latin 
literature,  taught  in  a  fresh  way,  crowded  out  the  petrified 
studies  of  the  schoolmen.  St.  Paul's  school  became  the 
model  for  many  new  schools  created  in  the  following  years/N 


Sir   Thomas  More  was  a  member  of   Parliament,    and    Sir  Thomas 

Moi 
pia. 


under  Henry  VIII.  held  several  important  positions  in  the   ^°^^^  "  ^^°' 


government.  Dear  as  he  held  the  reform  of  life  and  relig- 
ion, he  was  no  less  desirous  of  bringing  about  a  reform  of 
the  state.  In  his  famous  book,  '^  Utopia  "  (the  Kingdom 
of  Nowhere,  1516),  he  exhibits  his  view  of  a  well-ordered 
society.  It  is  not  a  serious  charge  against  the  work  that  it 
is  impractical,  since  it  does  not  pretend  to  anything  more 
than  the  presentation  of  an  ideal  toward  which  govern- 
ment and  society  ought  to  advance.  Justice,  reason,  intel- 
ligence, freedom,  and  equality  are  the  pillars  of  More's 
visionary  kingdom,  and  by  exhibiting  the  delightfulness  of 


70 


Modern  Europe 


Breach  be- 
tween Henry 
and  the 
humanists. 


Henry's  first 
war  with 
France. 


a  life  established  upon  such  a  basis,  he  brought  sharply  to 
the  mind  of  his  contemporaries  the  shortcomings  of  the 
kingdoms  of  which  they  formed  a  part.  The  Utopia  is  a 
comprehensive,  socialistic  programme,  dictated  by  a  gen- 
erous love  and  pity  of  the  poor  and  heavy-laden,  and  it  is 
encouraging  to  observe  that  many  of  its  demands  ^  have 
been  realized  by  the  progress  of  centuries.  Other  and 
more  fantastic  demands  form  the  substance  of  the  platform 
of  the  socialists  of  to-day. 

The  joy  of  the  Oxford  humanists  over  the  accession  of 
Henry  was  not  destined  to  last  long.  Henry,  indeed, 
distinguished  the  propagandists  of  the  new  learning  by 
various  honorary  appointments  ;  but  he  soon  showed  that 
he  did  not  take  their  principles  of  reform  of  Church  and 
state  seriously,  and  was  clearly  determined  upon  following 
the  egotistical  bent  of  his  mind.  Under  the  smooth  exte- 
rior of  the  king  there  appeared,  to  the  general  surprise,  a 
stubborn  and  brutal  personality,  which,  as  the  years  passed, 
fell  more  and  more  under  the  dominion  of  its  passions. 

A  very  few  years  after  Henry's  accession,  the  humanists 
knew  beyond  doubt  that  they  had  been  mistaken  in  their 
man.  In  1512,  Henry  definitely  abandoned  the  policy  of 
peace,  which  had  made  his  father  strong  and  had  filled  the 
treasury,  and  without  any  real  cause,  for  mere  notoriety's 
sake,  plunged  into  the  Spanish-Frencli  difficulties,  which 
had  broken  out  over  the  possession  of  Italy.  He  joined 
Spain  and  the  Pope  in  the  Holy  League  (15 12)  which  was 
directed  against  France,  and  while  Louis  XII.  of  France 
was  engaged  in  Italy,  Henry  invaded  his  rival's  territory 


» In  Utopia  education  was  general ;  there  were  wise  sanitary  pro- 
visions and  clean,  broad  streets  ;  criminals  were  treated  with  kindness 
and  won  back  to  order  by  affectionate  instruction  ;  religious  tolerance 
was  established  as  a  state  maxim.  More  than  this,  there  was  in  force  a 
state  of  things  which  tallies  largely  with  the  expectations  of  our  modern 
socialists.  Something  like  their  eight-hour  labor  law,  for  instance, 
was  realized  in  Utopia. 


England  Under  the   Tudor s  Jl 

from  Calais,  then  still  an  English  possession.  The  only  re- 
sult of  these  campaigns  across  the  channel  was  a  cheap  vic- 
tory, known  as  the  Battle  of  the  Spurs  (15 13).  r—— - — -~^^ 

A  more  decisive  advantage  was  gained  in  another  direc-  Flodden  Field, 
tion.  When  the  king  of  France  found  himself  threat-  -1,.._ 
ened  by  Henry,  he  revived  the  alliance  with  James  IV., 
the  king  of  Scotland,  and  while  Henry  was  campaigning 
futilely  in  France,  James  crossed  the  Scottish  border  and 
pushed  south.  It  was  a  moment  of  extreme  danger  for  the 
English.  But  Catharine  of  Aragon,  Henry's  queen,  who 
acted  as  regent  in  his  absence,  displayed  an  unusual  activity, 
and  at  Flodden  Field  the  army  she  had  summoned  signally 
defeated  the  Scots  Qsjj)-  King  James  and  the  flower  of 
his  nobility  remained  dead  upon  the  field.  ^  It  was  the 
last  time  the  Scots  seriously  threatened  the  prestige  of  Eng- 
land. 

The  favorite  adviser  of  Henry  at  this  period  of  his  life  Woisey,  arch- 
was  Thomas  Woisey  (1471-1530).     Woisey  was  a  mere   Lord  Chan- 
burgher's  son,  but  having  joined  the  clergy  rose  rapidly  by  ^^ii^^- 
virtue  of  his  talents  from  post  to  post,  until  the  king's  fa- 
vor won   for  him  the  archbishopric  of  York,  and  at  the 
same  time  raised  him  to  the  position  of  Lord  Chancellor, 
the  highest  post  in  the  civil  administration  of  the  realm 
(15 1 5).     Thus   Woisey   became   the   king's   second  self. 
Unfortunately  he  was  over-fond  of  power  and  its  outward 
symbols,  such  as  gorgeous  palaces,  trains  of  servants,  and 
sumptuous  feasts,  and  altogether  his  ambition  and  vanity 
outran  his  patriotism  and  intelligence.     That  such  a  king's 
adviser  would  not  be  a  wholly  reliable  guide  events  proved. 

When  with  the  year  151 7,  Europe  became  agitated  by   Henry  defends 
the  question  of  the  Reformation,  it  devolved  on  Henry  to  aglinst^^ 
adopt  some  definite  attitude  toward  Luther's  heresy.     Henry   Luther. 


^The  reader  will  perhaps  remember  that  Scott's  poem  of  Marmioa 
deals  with  this  battle.  *~"""         '  """^ 


72  Modern  Europe 


was  not  untutored  in  theology.  In  fact,  he  prided  himself 
upon  being  a  master  of  all  its  intricacies,  and  his  vanity 
prevented  him  from  keeping  his  light  concealed  under  a 
bushel.  When  Luther  went  so  far  as  to  attack  the  sacra- 
ments and  the  authority  of  the  Pope,  Henry  published  a 
vehement  pamphlet  against  him  (1521),  whereupon  the 
Pope,  gratified  at  finding  a  champion  among  the  roy- 
alty, conferred  upon  Henry  the  title  of  Defender  of  the 
^  Faith. ^     But  Henry  had  an  ulterior  object  in  defending 

the  sovereignty  of  the  Pope,  more  urgent  than  his  love  of 
the  Head  of  the  Church,  more  urgent  even  than  his  vanity. 
His  attachment  to  the  Pope  was  largely  due  to  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  his  marriage. 
Henry's  Henry's   marriage   deserves  close  consideration.      The 

marriage.  reader   will  remember  that  Henry  VH.,  in  pursuance  of 

his  peace  policy,  had  sought  to  associate  himself  with 
Spain.  He  calculated  that  England  was  threatened  by 
France  alone,  and  that  Spain  and  England  in  alliance 
would  render  France  harmless.  Spain  did  not  fail  to  see 
her  own  advantage  in  this  policy  of  Henry,  and  finally 
Ferdinand  of  Spain  and  Henry  VH.  of  England  agreed  to 
cement  their  interests  by  a  matrimonial  alliance.  Accord- 
ingly the  boy-prince  of  Wales,  Arthur,  was  married  to 
Catharine,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  But  shortly 
after  the  ceremony  Arthur  died,  and  as  the  desire  for  the 
alliance  continued  as  before,  the  idea  naturally  occurred  to 
the  families  concerned  to  marry  Arthur's  widow  to  Arthur's 
surviving  brother,  Henry.  However,  an  obstacle  to  this 
project  was  offered  by  a  Church  law,  which  forbade  a  man 
to  marry  his  deceased  brother's  wife.  In  this  dilemma, 
the   then    Pope,    Julius    II.,  granted   a  special   dispensa- 


(■ 


>  The  sovereigns  of  England  still  bear  this  tftle  despite  subsequent 
events.  It  is  an  amusing  stroke  of  historical  irony,,  that  only  a  few  years 
after  a  Pope  had  conferred  this  title,  another  Pope  should  have  laid 
his  anathema  upon  Henry,  as  the  destroyer  of  the  faith. 


England  Under  the   Tudor s  73 

tion,  whereby  the  Church  law  was  annulled  for  Catharine's 
and  Henry's  benefit.  The  way  being  thus  cleared,  the 
marriage  actually  took  ^place  immediately  upon  Henry's 
accession  (1509).  It  will  be  easily  understood  that  in  the 
eyes  of  contemporaries  the  legality  of  Henry's  marriage 
rested  solely  upon  the  Pope's  special  warrant.  Now,  if  the 
Pope,  as  Luther  affirmed,  was  an  impostor  and  had  no  right 
to  issue  such  a  warrant,  the  law  still  held  and  the  marriage 
was  accordingly  illegal.  As  at  the  time  of  Luther's  first 
attacks  upon  the  papal  sovereignty  Henry  still  loved  his 
wife  and  wished  to  secure  the  succession  to  his  children  by 
her — although  he  had  as  yet  but  a  single  daughter,  Mary — 
he  was  naturally  alarmed  when  Luther  ridiculed  the  claims 
of  the  man  upon  whose  assumed  power  the  legality  of  his 
marriage  and  of  his  daughter's  right  to  the  throne  depended.   ' 

Only  a  few  years  after  Henry  had  thus  ridden  into  the  Henry  desires 
lists,  in  behalf  of  the  Papacy,  there  occurred  an  alteration 
in  Henry's  feelings  which  completely  changed  his  attitude 
toward  his  marriage  and  toward  the  papal  dispensation. 
Henry  no  longer  loved  his  wife ;  in  her  place  he  loved 
her  young  and  charming  maid  of  honor,  Anne  Boleyp; 
he  had  given  up  hope  of  having  any  more  children  by 
Catharine,  and  as  he  longed  for  a  son  who  was  likely  to 
render  the  succession  more  secure  than  his^sickly  daughter 
Mary  could  render  it,  he  desired  a  new  marriage  ;  and, 
finally,  having  fallen  out  with  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
politically,  he  wished  to  break  all  the  bonds — and  there- 
fore also  the  marriage  bond — which  united  him  with  the 
Spanish  family. 

These  reasons  urged  Henry  to  a  divorce.     A   divorce   The  Pope  re- 
in the  Catholic  Church  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  diffi-   vorce. 
culty.     But   Henry's    case   seemed    simple.     The   present 
Pope,  Cjement__VII.^  would  only  have  to  withdraw  Pope 
Juhus's  marriage  dispensation,  which  Henry  in  his  change 


74  Modern  Europe 


of  mind  assumed  to  have  been  obtained  by  fraud,  and 
everything  would  be  satisfactory.  The  general  regulations 
concerning  a  marriage  between  a  brother-in-law  and  a  sis- 
ter-in-law would  immediately  enter  into  force,  and  the 
royal  marriage  would,  by  that  simple  act,  be  rendered 
void.  But  supposing  the  Pope  could  not  be  brought  to 
take  Henry's  point  of  view,  would  not  Henry,  who,  by 
hook  or  by  crook,  wanted  the  divorce,  and  insisted  on  the 
fundamental  illegality  of  his  marriage,  be  pushed  to  take 
another  stand ;  would  he  not  be  urged  to  take  back  his 
own  former  invectives  against  Luther,  and,  together  with 
the  German  heretic,  insist  that  the  Pope  was  a  usurper  and 
could  not  make  that  which  the  Bible  ^  called  wrong,  right 
by  his  word  ?  Would  not  Henry,  if  balked  in  his  plan 
of  an  amicable  settlement  of  the  divorce  matter,  be  driven 
to  adopt  the  alternative  of  violence  ?  And  thus  it  came 
to  pass.  It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1527  the  troops 
of  Charles  V.  sacked  Rome.  From  this  time  on  Pope 
Clement  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Spain.  Charles 
V.  had  only  to  forbid  the  grant  of  the  divorce  be- 
tween Henry  and  Catharine  of  Aragon,  his  aunt,  and  the 
Pope  would  have  to  obey.  In  the  dilemma  in  which  he 
found  himself  there  was  only  one  thing  which  Clement 
could  do,  and  that  was  to  put  Henry  off  and  let  the  mat- 
ter drag  on.  Henry  allowed  himself  to  be  hoodwinked 
for  a  time,  but  in  the  end  his  patience  gave  out  and  he 
abruptly  took  matters  into  his  own  hands. 

The  fall  of  Events  now  follow  each  other  with  confusing  rapidity. 

Woisey.  r^^^  ^^^^  .g  ^^^  ^^jj  ^^  Wolsey.     Wolsey  had  engaged  his 

credit  to  obtain  the  divorce.  When  he  failed,  the  king  dis- 
graced him.    What  had  angered  thq  king  especially  was  the 


>  A  text  in  Leviticus  xviii.  16  seems  to  forbid  marriage  with  a  de- 
ceased brother's  wife.  The  canonical  prohibition  drew  its  authority 
from  the  current  reading  of  this  text. 


England  Under  the   Tudor s  75 

fact  that  Wolsey,  after  having  accepted  the  office  of  Papal 
legate,  had,  together  with  a  legate  of  Italian  birth,  Campeg- 
gio,  carried  on  in  England  a  busy  investigation  of  the  di- 
vorce question,  and  then  allowed  the  whole  matter  to  end 
in  nothing.  An  opportune  death  (1530)  alone  saved 
W.olsey  from  imprisonment  in  the  Tower.  ^ 

The  king's  mind  was  in  turmoil  and  confusion  till  there  Cromwell  and 
arrived  a  man  to  steady  and  direct  his  will.  This  was  with  Rome. 
Thomas  Cromwell,  a  former  secretary  of  Wolsey's  and  a 
man  of  rude  energy.  He  showed  the  king  that  the  easiest 
way  out  of  his  difficulties  was  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  princes  of  Germany,  repudiate  the  Pope,  make  himself 
head  of  the  National  Church,  and  so  have  his  divorce  re- 
ferred to  an  ecclesiastical  court  dependent  on  himself. 
Cromwell  undertook  the  direction  of  affairs.  At  a  Con- 
vocation of  the  English  clergy  the  payment  to  the  Pope 
oi  \hQ  A Ji nates'^  was  abolished  (1532).  That  was  tanta- 
mount to  a  declaration  of  war.  Next  Cranmer,  a  creature 
of  Henry's  and  already  half  a  Protestant,  was  appointed 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  primate  of  England  (1533). 
Cranmer,  at  Henry's  order,  straightway  pronounced  the 
divorce,  and  shortly  after,  Anne  Boleyn  was  publicly  pro- 
claimed queen.  Finally,  in  1534,  there  was  passed  by 
Parliament  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  which  declared  the  king 
the  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  schism 
was  now  complete.  The  papal  excommunication  which 
fell  upon  Henry's  head  was  harmless  thunder. 

Thus  Henry,  head  of  the  state,  became  also  head  of  the 
Church,  or  briefly,  the  English  Pope.  And  never  did  a 
Pope  at  Rome  try  to  carry  out  his  will  more  high-handedly. 

'  Shakespeare  (Henry  VIII.)  gives  Wolsey's  last  authentic  words  al- 
most literally  :  "  Had  I  but  served  my  God  with  half  the  zeal  I  served 
my  king,  He  would  not  in  mine  age  have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies." 

2  The  Annates  were  the  first  year's  income  of  an  ecclesiastical  benefice, 
and  the  Annates  of  the  bishoprics  formed  an  important  part  of  the  Pope's 
revenue. 


!(> 


Modern  Europe 


Death  of  Fish- 
er and  More. 


The  character 
of  Henry's 
Protestantism. 


The  suppres- 
sion of  the 
monasteries, 
1536. 


The  enactments  of  the  last  year  were  immediately  made  a 
test  of  loyalty.  Whoever  pronounced  an  opinion  against 
them  was  liable  to  a  traitor's  death.  Bishop  Fisher  and 
Thomas  More,  the  latter  once  Henry's  friend  and  chan- 
cellor, and  both  friends  of  learning  and  righteous  men, 
were  among  the  first  victims  of  the  new  policy.  They 
paid  for  their  unwillingness  to  recognize  Henry  as  the  Su- 
preme Head  of  the  Church  with  their  lives  (1535). 

From  the  first,  it  was  an  interesting  question  how  far 
Henry  would  depart  from  the  accepted  Catholic  organi- 
zation, doctrines,  and  practices,  and  how  far  he  would 
adopt  the  Protestant  position.  In  his  own  heart  he  was  as 
much  a  Catholic  before  as  after  the  schism.  The  sole  dis- 
tinction between  Henry  then  and  Henry  now  was,  that  he 
had  taken,  as  regards  England,  the  Pope's  place.  But  to 
a  certain  extent  he  could  not  fail  to  be  influenced  by  the 
Protestant  Reformation,  especially  as  long  as  his  most 
trusted  counsellor  was  Cromwell,  who  was  secretly  a  Lu- 
theran. A  number  of  innovatTons  were  therefore  gradually 
admitted.  The  English  Bible  was  put  into  every  church. 
The  doctrines  concerning  Purgatory,  Indulgences,  and 
Masses  for  the  Dead  were  condemned.  Pilgrimages  were 
forbidden,  miraculous  images  were  destroyed.  But  the 
most  incisive  innovation,  was  the  adoption,  by  the  advice 
of  Cromwell,  of  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries  (1536). 

About  1,200  monasteries  existed  at  this  time  in  Eng- 
land. Their  wealth  was  great,  especially  in  land.  With- 
out any  doubt  the  king's  greed,  seconded  by  that  of  his 
nobles,  urged  him  to  accept  toward  them  Cromwell's  policy 
of  suppression.  But  their  suppression  under  any  cond|tio_n 
may  fairly  be  called  a  blessing.  They  certainly  did  not 
do  good  in  proportion  to  their  cost,  and  their  very  prin- 
ciple was  opposed  to  the  modern  spirit,  which  demands 
that  every  man  make  himself  of  some  practical  use  in  the 


England  Under  the  Tudors  yy 

world.  Nevertheless  the  recognition  of  this  fact  should  not 
hinder  us  from  condemning  the  exaggerated  stories  of  the 
bestiality  and  iniquity  of  the  monks  and  nuns,  which 
Cromwell's  agents  embodied  for  their  own  political  ends 
in  their  report  to  Parliament,  called  the  Black  Book.  The 
monasteries,  first  the  smaller,  then  the  larger,  were  sup- 
pressed. Their  immense  wealth  bepame  the  property  of 
the  king,  who  although  he  used  it  in  part  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  new  Church  and  in  part  for  schools,  lavishly 
distributed  the  largest  share  among  the  gentry  in  order  to 
attach  them  to  his  party. ^  In  recognition  of  these  benefits 
the  landed  gentry  became  the  sovereign's  surest  support 
in  carrying  out  his  ecclesiastical  policy. 

Though  the  mass  of  the  English  people  were  hostile  to  The  king  es- 
the  claims  of  the  Pope  and  gladly  accepted  the  Act  of  Su-  half-way^  ^ 
premacy,  they  were,  like  Henry  himself.  Catholic  in  feeling  Church, 
and  disapproved  of  Cromwell's  Protestant  innovations. 
Revolts  breaking  out,  here  and  there,  especially  a  revolt  in 
the  north,  called  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace  (1536),  made 
the  king  aware  that  he  had  gone  as  far  as  was  wise.  From 
policy,  as  well  as  from  conviction,  he  refused  to  make 
further  concessions.  Terrified  by  the  confusion  of  opinion 
about  him,  he  even  fell  victim  to  a  partial  reaction.  In 
1539  he  ordered  Parliament  to  pass  ''an  act  for  the  abo- 
lition of  the  diversity  of  opinions,"  which  is  known  as  the 
Six  Articles,  or  vulgarly  as  the  Whip  with  Six  Cords.  The 
Six  Articles  were  intended  as  a  confession  of  faith  of  the 
new  Henrian  Church.  Their  spirit  was  Catholic ;  they 
upheld,  for  instance,  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  auricular  con- 
fession, and  transubstantiation ;  all  diversity  of  opinion 
was  punishable  with  death.     Under  the  reign  of  the  Six 


^The  present  nobility  of  England  is,  in  part,  the  creation  of  Henry  VIII. 
The  seat  of _  many_a  noble  Jiouse  is  an  ancient_abbey.  Lord  Byron's 
seat,  for  Instance,  was  N'ewstead'Abbey. 


78  Modern  Europe 


Articles  a  persecution  broke  out,  which  struck  Cathohcs 
and  Protestants  alike.  The  citizens  who  wished  to  live  in 
peace,  had  to  travel  docilely  the  path,  half  way  between 
Catholicism  and  Protestantism,  which  the  king  was  pleased 
to  designate  as  orthodox.  One  of  the  first  victims  of  this 
partial  reaction  was  Thomas  Cromwell.  That  he  had 
helped  the  king  to  his  position  of  ecclesiastical  supremacy 
could  not  save  him.  <  In  1540,  he  was  arrested  and  exe- 
cuted. 
His  unprofit-  Henry's  foreign  policy  was  throughout  his  reign  confus- 

poHcy?'^^'^"  ing  and  uninteresting.  The  important  poHtical  matter  of 
the  time  was  the  rivalry  between  France  and  Spain,  the 
respective  sovereigns  of  which  were  Francis  I.  and  Charles 
V.  Henry's  alliance  was  solicited  by  both  monarchs,  and 
as  his  interests  were  not  directly  involved,  Henry  was  satis- 
fied to  follow  the  man  who  offered  the  greater  bribe.  There- 
fore he  was  sometimes  on  Charles's  side,  sometimes  on  that 
of  Francis,  campaigned  much  and  spent  much  money ;  but 
in  the  end  he  gained  nothing. 
His  six  mar-  A  personal   page  in  Henry's  history  demands  at  least 

nages.  passing  recognition.     It  presents  the  story  of  his  marriages. 

His  native  vulgarity  and  repulsive  animalism  exhibit  them- 
selves here  without  relief.  We  have  already  followed  the 
tragedy  of  Catharine  of  Aragon  to  the  coronation  of  Anne 
Boleyn.  AnneBoleyn  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  Elizabeth, 
and  soon  afterward  was  executed  (1536).  The  next  wife 
was  Jane  Seymour,  who  died  a  natural  death,  leaving  a  son 
Edward.  The  fourth  wife,  Anne  of  Cleves,  did  not  suit 
^  Henry  at  all,  and  was  hardly  married  when  she  was  di- 
j\^  vorced  (1540).  As  the  fifth  wife,  Catharfne  Howard, 
'  J*  proved  untrue,  she  was  beheaded  (1542),  an3  so  room  was 
j^ '  made  for  a  sixth,  Catharine  Parr,  who,  although  occasion- 
ally in  imminent  danger,  managed,  by  submission,  to  out- 
live the  royal  bluebeard. 


Engla7id  Under  the   Tudors  79 

Henry  died  in  1547.  By  the  law  of  succession  which  The  law  of 
he  estabhshed,  the  crown  was  to  pass  first  to  his  son  Ed- 
ward and  Edward's  heirs ,  then  to  his  daughter  Mary^  and 
her  heirs,  and  finally  to  his  daughter  Elizabeth  and  her 
heirs.  This  law  was  just,  and  satisfied  the  Parliament  and 
the  people. 

Henry's  character  is  sufficiently  illuminated  by  the  events  Henry's  merit 
which  have  been  narrated  in  the  foregoing  pages.  He  was  reformerf  ^^^^ 
a  man  of  brute  energy,  who  recognized  only  the  law  of 
his  own  pleasure.  His  father  had  made  the  monarchy  prac- 
tically absolute,  and  so  the  Parliament,  instead  of  proving 
a  barrier  to  his  arbitrariness,  was  a  servile  instrument  in 
his  hands,  which  docilely  recorded  his  will.  English  re- 
ligious independence,  the  crowning  work  of  his  reign,  is, 
therefore,  Henry's  personal  act ;  not  the  Parliament's,  nor 
the  people's.  Nevertheless,  if,  in  the  course  of  history, 
the  Anghcan  Church,  which  has  developed  from  Henry's 
Act  of  Supremacy,  has  proved  a  benefit,  the  English  people 
owe  small  thanks  to  Henry.  Rather  than  to  Henry,  they 
owe  the  Anglican  Church,  in  the  form  in  which  they  know 
it,  to  Ehzabeth  and  to  the  band  of  devoted  reformers  who, 
under  her  general  direction,  gave  it  its  moral  earnestness 
and  its  high  purpose. 

Edward  VI.,  iS 47-53- 

As  Edward  VI.  was  but  nine  years  old  when  his  father  Somerset 
lay  at  the  point  of  death,  Henry  provided,  during  his  son's   Protecfor. 
minority,  a    council   of  regency,  at    the   head   of  which 
he  put  Edward's  maternal  uncle,  the  duke   of  Somerset. 
Somerset,   however,   disregarding  Henry's  will,  abolished 
the  council  and  made  himself  sole  regent,  with  the  title  of 

1  The  ingenuous  reader  will  feel  surprise  at  Henry's  recognition  of 
Mary  as  his  legitimate  child.  It  is  a  piece  of  frank  inconsistency  and 
severely  impugns  Henry's  sincerity  in  the  matter  of  the  divorce. 


8o 


Modern  Europe 


The  Protest- 
antism of 
Edward's 
reign. 


Permanent 
contributions 
of  Edward's 
reign  to  the 
English 
Church. 


Protector.     To   this    act    the    Parhament,  accustomed    to 
obedience,  offered  no  objections. 

The  obedience  of  Parhament  soon  stood  a  much  harder 
test.  For  Somerset,  supported  by  Cranmer,  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  resolved  to  carry  out  a  thorough  Protestant 
reform.  These  two  men  abruptly  determined  that  the 
Henrian  Church,  which  was  neither  Protestant  nor  Catho- 
lic, should  be  remodelled  after  the  faith  of  Calvin. 
Anglican  historians  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  this  period 
as  "  the  Protestant  misrule."  Pictures  and  altars  were 
swept  out  of  the  churclies,  the  rich  vestments  and  the  sacred 
processions  were  abandoned ;  in  a  word,  the  Church  was 
robbed  of  its  elaborate  Catholic  character,  and  was  made 
plain  and  Protestant.  Moreover,  the  tendency  of  conti-. 
nental  Protestantism  toward  the  national  idiom  was  fol- 
lowed, and  the  dead  Latin  of  the  service  was  replaced  by 
the  living  English.  In  pursuance  of  this  last  laudable 
enactment,  and  to  make  possible  the  conduct  of  an  English 
service,  Cranmer  issued,  in  1548,  the  English  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.  Further,  since  the  clergy  was  no  longer 
to  form  a  separate  class  outside  of  the  nation,  an  order  was 
published  by  which  the  principle  of  celibacy  was,  -Sban- 
doned. 

The  inner  change  from  Catholic  to  Protestant  doctrine 
was  no  less  complete  than  the  above  outward  changes.  In 
1552,  there  was  published  and  enforced  throughout  the 
kingdom,  a  new  Confession  of  Faith,  which  is  known  as 
the  Forty-two  Articles  of  Religion,  and  which  is  saturated, 
through  and  through,  with  the  Calvinistic  spirit.  These 
Forty-two  Articles,  reduced  under  Elizabeth  to  Thirty- 
nine,  and  somewhat  tempered  in  tone,  were  saved,  to- 
gether with  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  from  the  wreck 
of  Edward's  time,  and  became  and  have  remained  the 
two  main  pillars  of  the  English  Church. 


England  Under  the   Tudor s  8i 

The  Protestant  government  of  Edward  was  no  less  intol-  Religious  per 
erant  than  the  government  of  his  father.  Tolerance  was 
as  yet  abhorred  by  all  parties  in  England  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent as  a  weakness.  Therefore,  all  who  departed  from 
the  forms  prescribed  in  the  Prayer  Book  were  perse- 
cuted, and  a  number  of  victims  were  even  burned  at  the 
stake. 

The  Protector  Somerset,  however,  did  not  live  to  com-  Northumber- 
plete  the  establishment  of  the  Protestant  Church.  Dis-  the  regency, 
content  was  rife  everywhere  at  his  inconsiderate  manner 
and  his  revolutionary  programme,  and  in  1549  he  fell  a  vic- 
tim to  a  plot  of  the  nobles,  and  was  beheaded.  Although 
he  was  succeeded  in  power  by  his  political  opponent,  the 
duke  of  Northumberland,  the  new  regent  substantially 
adopted  Somerset's  radically  Protestant  policy. 

Even  had   Northumberland  been  willing  to  make  con-   The  precocity 
cessions  to  the  Catholic  party,  he   would   have  been   hin-  — *- 

dered  by  the  will  of  the  young  king.  Edward  VI.  was,  as 
is  frequently  the  case  with  invalid  children,  a  boy  of  re- 
markable precocity.  His  uncle  Somerset  had  given  him 
a  severe  Protestant  training,  and  he  pored  over  the  Script- 
ures with  the  fervor  of  a  Calvinistic  preacher.  When  he 
was  twelve  years  old,  the  German  reformer,  Bucer,  wrote 
of  him :  *'  No  study  enjoys  his  favor  as  much  as  the  Bible." 
His  favorite  diversion  was  a  theological  discussion,  and 
out  of  his  journal,  which  has  come  down  to  us,  there  looms 
a  countenance  bare  of  every  boyish  grace,  and  a  mind 
which  anticipates  the  Puritan  of  a  generation  yet  un- 
born. 

Such  a  boy  was  only  too  likely  to  exhaust  in  a  very  few   Edward 
years  his  low  measure  of  vitality.      Early  in  1553,  Northum-  Jawof^^ 
berland  perceived  that    Edward  was  dying.      By  law,  the   succession, 
succession  would  now  fall  to  Mary,  who,  like  her  Spanish 
mother,  Catharine,  was  a  devoted  Catholic.     Northumber- 


82  Modern  Europe 


land  and  his  friends  had  everything  to  fear  from  her,  and 
in  order  to  secure  himself  and  them,  he  played  upon  the 
young  king's  Protestant  conscience  with  such  skill  that  he 
wrung  from  him  at  last  a  new  law  of  succession.  By  this 
Edward  excluded  his  sisters,  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  from  the 
throne,  and  bestowed  the  crown  upon  a  great-granddaughter 
of  Henry  VII.,  the  Lady  Jane  Grey.  ^  The  calculating 
Northumberland,  however,  had  previously  married  Lady 
Jane  Grey  to  one  of  his  own  sons,  Guilford  Dudley.  Thus 
he  hoped  to  perpetuate  his  power.  Soon  after  signing  the 
new  law  of  succession,  Edward  died,  July,  1553. 

Mary,    ISSJS^- 

Mary  hailed  as  Edward  had  hardly  expired  when  Northumberland  pro- 
sovereign,  claimed  Lady  Jane  Grey.  But  if  he  had  any  hope  of 
carrying  his  candidate  he  was  soon  disillusioned.  The 
mass  of  the  people  saw  through  his  despicable  intrigue  and 
rallied  around  Mary,  their  legitimate  sovereign.  They 
hailed  Mary  gladly,  because  not  only  their  sense  of  justice, 
but  also  their  dearest  hopes,  designated  her  as  their  queen. 
For  the  majority  of  the  people  were  still  Catholic,  and  the 
radical  Protestantism  of  Edward  and  Northumberland  had 
aroused  their  animosity.  From  Mary  they  expected  the 
return  of  the  Mass  and  of  the  ancient  Catholic  practices 
from  which  they"were  not  yet  weaned  in  their  hearts. 
The  Lady  The  Lady  Jane  Grey  Was,  in  consequence  of  this  un- 

jane  Grey.        hesitating  devotion  of  the  English  people  to  their  rightful 

»  Genealogy  of  Lady  Jane  Grey. 

Henry  VIL 


r«^  Henry  VIIL  Margaret.  Mary  =  Duke  of  Suffolk. 

Frances  =  Henry  Grey. 
Jane  Grey. 


England  Under  the  Tudor s  83 

sovereign,  crowned  only  to  be  deposed  again.  North- 
umberland justly  paid  for  his  ambition  with  his  head.  Un- 
fortunately, Lady  Jane  Grey,  who  was  utterly  innocent  of 
the  plot  to  depose  Queen  Mary,  and  who  had  accepted  the 
crown  from  her  father-in-law  almost  against  her  will,  paid 
the  same  penalty.  The  gentle  and  refined  young  girl,  the 
nine  days'  queen,  has  always  excited  a  pathetic  interest. 
The  great  public  stage  on  which  she  died  was  not  her 
choice;  a  quiet  country  seat,  where  her  bright  nature 
might  have  shone  among  a  circle  of  friends  and  scholars, 
would  have  suited  her  better.  Therefore  she  called  the 
day  on  which  she  gave  back  her  crown  to  the  commission- 
ers who  arrested  her  the  happiest  day  of  her  life. 

It  is  certain  that  if  Mary  had  adopted  a  moderate  Mary  plans  a 
Catholic  policy  and  taken  her  stand  upon  the  platform  of  restoration.^ 
her  father,  Henry,  her  reign  would  have  met  the  wishes  of 
her  people.  But  Mary  had  nothing  about  her  suggesting 
compromise.  Her  Spanish  blood  called  upon  her  to  be 
faithful,  above  all  things,  to  her  faith.  She,  therefore, 
planned  nothing  less  than  a  return  of  England  to  the 
Pope's  fold — a  full  Catholic  restoration.  And  that  was  a 
delusion.  For,  however  the  English  people  were  attached 
to  Catholic  practices,  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  proclaiming 
the  English  independence  of  Rome,  had  the  full  consent  of 
the  nation. 

The  very  first  acts  of  Mary's  reign  left  no  doubt  about  her  The  Act  of 
policy.  The  Parliament,  always  obedient  to  a  word  from  abolished!^ 
the  throne,  straightway  abolished  all  the  acts  which  had 
been  voted  under  Edward,  reestablished  the  old  faith,  and 
forbade  the  new.  When  the  married  clergymen  had  been 
expelled  and  the  old  liturgy  been  reintroduced,  the  last 
measure  necessary  for  the  undoing  of  the  work  of  the  past 
years  could  be  undertaken.  In  November,  1554,  there 
arrived  in  London  Cardinal  Pole,  the  legate  of  the  Pope, 


84 


Modern  Europe 


Mary  marries 
Philip. 


The  Protest- 
ant martyrs. 


and  the  Parliament  having  abolished  the  Act  of  Supremacy 
of  1534,  the  English  nation  was  solemnly  received  back 
by  Pole  into  the  bosom  of  Mother  Church.  The  honest 
Catholic  zeal  of  Mary  labored  even  for  a  restoration  of 
the  dissolved  monasteries,  but  here  the  Parliament,  which 
was  made  up  largely  of  landholders  who  had  benefited  by 
the  secularization,  showed  itself  intractable. 

If  the  ultra-Catholic  policy  of  Mary  alienated  popular 
sympathies,  she  actually  undermined  her  own  throne  when 
she  so  far  disregarded  the  national  prejudices  of  her  people 
as  to  seek  the  alliance  of  Catholic  Spain  by  offering  her 
hand  to  Philip,  son  and  heir  of  Charles  V.  The  marriage 
with  Philip  was  celebrated  in  1554,  and  brought  with  it, 
as  was  expected  from  the  Spanish  husband's  well-known 
intolerance,  a  sharper  pursuance  of  Catholic  aims. 

In  fact,  the  religious  persecutions  which  gave  the  finish- 
ing stroke  to  Mary's  dying  popularity  and  won  for  her 
from  a  Protestant  posterity  the  terrible  title  of  ''  Bloody 
Mary,"  may  be  dated  from  the  time  of  her  marriage  with 
Philip.  Soon  the  prisons  were  filled  with  those  who  had 
stood  in  the  foreground  in  Edward's  time,  and  gradually 
the  fires  of  persecution  were  lighted  over  the  realm.  It  is 
the  period  of  the  Protestant  martyrs.  Sixty-five  died  by 
the  fagot  in  the  year  1555,  seventy  in  1556.  Their  stanch- 
ness  in  death  did  more  toward  establishing  Protestantism 
in  England  than  the  doctrinal  fervor  of  an  army  of  Calvin- 
istic  preachers  could  have  done.  It  was  even  as  Bishop 
Latimer  said  to  Bishop  Ridley  at  the  stake  :  ''  Master  Rid- 
ley, play  the  man  ;  we  shall  this  day,  by  God's  grace, 
light  such  a  candle  in  England,  as  I  trust  shall  never  be 
put  out."  For  the  stout  part  they  played,  Latimer  and 
Ridley  head  the  Protestant  martyrology.  But  the  persecu- 
tion struck  a  more  prominent,  if  not  a  more  noble  victim 
than  these,  in  the  person  of  the   deposed  archbishop   of 


England  Under  the   Tudor s  85 

Canterbury.  This  was  the  celebrated  Cranmer,  who  had 
served  under  two  kings.  Cranmer,  who  had  always  shown 
a  subservient  spirit,  flinched  when  the  trial  came  and 
denied  his  faith.  But  in  the  face  of  death  his  courage 
came  back  to  him.  He  thrust  his  right  hand  into  the 
flame,  and  steadying  it  there,  said,  resolutely  :  ''  This  is 
the  hand  that  wrote  the  recantation,  therefore  it  first  shall 
suffer  punishment." 

If  Edward's  radical  Protestantism  made  his  reign  de-  The  loss  of 
tested,  Mary's  radical  Catholicism  produced  the  same  re- 
sult. The  hatred  of  her  subjects  soon  pursued  her  even  . 
into  her  palace.  She  was  a  quiet,  tender  woman  whose 
intolerance  was  more  the  crime  of  the  age  than  her  own, 
and  the  harvest  of  aversion  which  was  springing  up  about 
her  was  more  than  she  could  bear.  Besides,  her  marriage 
was  unfortunate.  She  loved  Philip,  but  Philip  cared  noth- 
ing for  her,  and  did  not  even  trouble  to  hide  his  indifference 
to  the  sickly  and  ill-favored  woman,  twelve  years  older  than 
himself.  To  crown  her  misfortunes,  she  allowed  her  Span- 
ish husband  to  draw  her  into  a  war  with  France,  in  which 
Philip  won  all  the  honor  and  Mary  suffered  all  the  dis- 
grace, by  the  loss  of  the  last  point  which  remained  to  Eng- 
land from  her  former  possessions  in  France,  Calais  (1558). 
Doubtless  the  loss  of  Calais  was  for  England  a  benefit  in 
disguise ;  she  was  thereby  cut  off  from  the  Continent  and 
directed  to  her  true  sphere,  the  sea.  But  to  the  living 
generation  of  P^nglishmen  the  capture  seemed  an  insuffer- 
able dishonor.  No  one  felt  it  more  keenly  than  Mary. 
"When  I  die,"  she  is  reported  to  have  said  shortly  be- 
fore her  death  (November,  i^^8),  ''  Calais  will  be  found 
written  on  my  heart." 


86  Modern  Europe 


Elizabeth,    i^^8-i6oj. 
The  glorious  Elizabeth,  Anne  Boleyn's  daughter  and  Mary's  younger 

reicTfi  of 

Queen  Eliza-  half-sister,  Succeeded  to  the  throne  on  Mary's  death. 
^^  ■  EHzabeth's  reign  proved  to  be  the  r3[lost_glorious  of  any 

which  England  has  ever  had.  Under  her,  Protestantism 
was  firmly  established  in  England  ;  the  great  Catholic  sea- 
power,  Spain,  was  challenged  and  defeated;  and  English 
life  flowered  in  the  poetry  of  Shakespeare  and  his  con- 
temporaries more  exuberantly  and  more  exquisitely  than 
ever  before  or  since.  To  the  national  greatness,  to  which 
England  suddenly  raised  herself  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
Elizabeth  has  lent  her  name.  She  appeared  to  the  English 
people,  and  still  appears,  mirrored  in  a  great  time,  and 
their  generous  loyalty,  which  gave  her  in  her  life-time  the 
title  of  Good  Queen  Bess,  has  also  encouraged  them  in  the 
view  that  she  was  the  fountain  and  the  summary  of  all  the 
virtues  which  throve  in  her  day.  Modern  historians  have 
scattered  this  delusion.  They  have  separated  the  woman 
from  her  time,  and  it  is  a  very  different  Elizabeth  who  ap- 
pears to  the  eye,  now  that  the  curtain  of  the  myths  which 
concealed  her  from  view  has  been  withdrawn. 

Elizabeth  as  a  Elizabeth  had  few  or  none  of  the  graces  of  womanhood 
and  many  or  all  of  its  weaknesses.  Her  vanity  was  excessive. 
Although  a  very  plain-featured  woman,  she  looked  upon 
herself  as  a  beauty  of  a  particularly  rare  type.  Gowns  and 
jewelry  were  her  passion.  She  could  not  live  without 
flattery  and  flirtations,  and  fatuously  accepting  the  com- 
pliments of  the  courtiers  for  true  coin,  allowed  herself  to 
be  persuaded  to  dance  and  sing  in  her  maladroit  manner, 
before  a  brilliant  court  of  gentlemen  and  ladies,  who  could 
hardly  hide  their  amusement  behind  their  handkerchiefs. 
Her  manners  were  rude,  especially  at  the  council  board, 
and  her  ministers  were  frequently  annihilated  by  language 


woman. 


England  Under  the   Tudors  87 

which  would  have  done  honor  to  the  camp  and  the  fish- 
market. 

If  Elizabeth  was  without  the  virtues  which  are  specif-   Elizabeth  as  a 
ically  feminine,  she  certainly  possessed  what  are  generally   ^  ^  ^sman. 
known  as  masculine  talents.    She  had  the  sense  of  her  selfish 
interest,  an  inflexible  will,  and  an  exceptional  intelligence. 
Thus  her  hand  firmly  grasped  the  rudder,  and  the  English 
bark  travelled  under  her  guidance  straight  for  the  goal. 

But  the  quality  by  which  she  rendered  England  perhaps 
her  best  service,  her  own  age,  if  her  contemporaries  had 
been  more  clearly  informed  about  it,  would  have  been  quick 
to  call  a  sin.  Elizabeth  was  lukewarm  about  matters  of  Elizabeth's 
faith,  a  sort  of  pagan.  However  such  want  of  conviction  ^^  '^^°"* 
be  regarded  in  the  case  of  a  private  individual,  in  the 
England  of  that  day,  shaken  by  religious  passions,  the  sov- 
ereign's indifference  was  an  undisguised  blessing  to  the 
commonwealth.  By  reason  of  it,  Elizabeth  was  delivered 
from  the  destructive  religious  radicalism  of  both  Edward 
and  Mary,  and  being  relatively  disinterested,  was  peculiarly 
fitted  to  play  her  royal  part  of  mediator  between  antago- 
nistic faiths.  In  connection  with  Elizabeth's  semi -pagan  ism, 
it  is  necessary  to  remember  that  the  sixteenth  century  was 
the  century  not  only  of  the  Reformation,  but  also  of  the 
Renaissance.  Elizabeth  had  been  brought  up  to  read 
Latin  and  Greek,  and  was  not  unacquainted  with  the  lan- 
guages and  the  literatures  of  the  continent.  Like  the  poets 
and  dramatists  of  her  time,  she  gave  heed  more  to  the 
voices  coming  from  Italy  than  to  the  message  of  Luther 
and  Calvin. 

The  chief  organ   of  Elizabeth's   government  was    the  The  Privy 
Privy  Council,  a  sort    of  cabinet,   the   advice  of  which   ^^""^^^•. 
Elizabeth  regularly  heard  before  she  arrived  at  a  decision. 
In  this   body  was  gathered  the  best  political  talent  which 
the  country  afforded.     It  is  no  small  credit  to  Elizabeth  to 


88 


Modern  Europe 


The  position 
of  Parliament. 


Elizabeth  re- 
turns to  the 
religious  pol- 
icy' of  Tier  r 
Jather. 


The  Acts  of 
Supremacy 
and  Uniform- 
ity. 


have  exhibited  such  discernment  in  the  choice  of  her  min- 
isters. Most  prominent  among  them  was  William  Cecil, 
Lord  Burghley,  who  devoted  a  life  of  exemplary  unselfish- 
ness to  the  advancement  of  English  Protestantism  and  of 
the  English  sea-power. 

If  Elizabeth  was  willing  to  consult  in  her  affairs  the 
Privy  Council,  which  was  a  body  of  her  own  appointment, 
she  was  not  inclined  to  grant  any  political  influence  to 
Parliament,  which  was  elected  by  the  people.  Parliament 
remained,  therefore,  what  it  had  been  under  the  other 
Tudors,  an  obedient  recorder  of  the  royal  will..  Thus  the 
sovereignty  of  England  was  practically  concentrated  in 
Elizabeth's  hands. 

The  first  question  of  Elizabeth's  reign  was  the  question 
of  the  Reformation.  Edward  had  followed  a  policy  of 
radical  Protestantism  and  had  failed ;  Mary  had  followed  a 
policy  of  radical  Catholicism  and  had  failed ;  after  these 
two  experiments  it  was  plain  that  extremes  would  have  to 
be  abandoned.  Elizabeth,  therefore,  returned  deliberately 
to  the  moderate  policy  of  her  father. 

In  1559  Parliament  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  as  they  stand  to  tHis  day,  by  the  Acts  of  Suprem- 
acy and  Uniformity.  By  the  Act  of  Supremacy  the  inde- 
pendence of  England  from  Rome  was  again  proclaimed 
and  Elizabeth  declared  the  highest  spiritual  authority,  as 
she  was  the  highest  civil  authority  in  the  realm ;  and  by 
the  Act  of  Uniformity,  the  clergy  were  forbidden,  under 
heavy  penalties,  to  depart  from  the  beliefs  and  service 
which  are  laid  down  in  the  Forty-two  Articles  (soon  re- 
duced to  Thirty-nine)  and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
of  Edward's  time.  The  Anglican  Church  thus  established 
(also  called  the  Episcopal  Church,  because  of  its  government 
by  bishops)  may  be  described  as  a  Protestant  Church  with 
a  Catholic  hierarchy. 


England  Under  the   Tudors  89 

Elizabeth's  policy  of  a  moderate  Protestantism  conformed  The  English 
to  the  wishes  of  the  majority  of  the  English  people.  In 
consequence  the  feeling  of  uncertainty,  occasioned  by  the 
rapid  changes  of  the  previous  reigns,  was  soon  replaced  by 
a  merited  confidence.  Slowly  Protestantism  won  its  way 
into  the  hearts  of  the  English  people  and  crowded  out  the 
mediaeval  faith.  But  for  a  long  time  the  Catholic  party 
was  still  a  considerable  factor  in  English  life.  Elizabeth 
could  never  afford  to  leave  it  out  of  her  calculations. 
However,  she  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  a  persecutor. 
Freedom  of  worship  she  would /not  suffer.  The  Catholics 
had  to  bow  to  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  and  worship  in  the 
national  Church;  but  if  they  did  not  engage  in  poHtical 
conspiracies,  they  were  in  general  not  m®lested.^ 

In  the  proportion  in  which  the  Catholics  decreased  in   Puritans 
number  and  importance,  another  party,  as  ill-disposed  in   separatists. 
its  own  way  to  the  Anglican   Church  as  the  Catholics 
were  in  theirs,  increased.     This  was  the  party  of  the  Prot- 
estant radicals,   who  were  not  satisfied  with  Elizabeth's 
half-measures,  and  clamored   for  a  thorough-going  Protes-  > 

tant  organization.  The  Non-conformists,  as  these  Protes- 
tants were  called,  soon  split  into  two  parties,  Puritans  and 
Separatists.  The  Puritans  were  moderate  opponents,  who 
did  not  sever  their  connection  with  the  Anglican  Church, 
because  they  hoped  to  win  it  over  to  their  programme- 
Their  name  was  originally  a  ni(^-name,  given  them  by 
their  Anglican  adversaries  in  consequence  of  their  demand 
for  what  they  called  a  purer  worship.  This  purer  worship 
aimed  at  stripping  the  Anglican  Church  of  many  of  the 
Catholic  practices  which  had  '•been  retained,  such  as  genu- 
flections, wearing  the  surplice,  and  decorating  the  altar. 
^  ,  \ 

*  The  number  of  Catholics  executed  under  Elizabeth  reached  the  con- 
siderable figure  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven.  But,  as  stated  above, 
they  were  executed  mostly  for  political  reasons, 


90 


Modern  Europe 


The  coming 
struggle  be- 
tween Prot- 
estantism and 
Catholicism. 


The  affairs  of 
Scotland. 


The  Separatists  (also  called  Brownists  after  their  founder, 
Robert  Brown)  were  radicals,  who  knew  no  compromise. 
The  Established  Church  was  to  them  no  better  than  the 
Roman  Church,  and  they  refused  to  attend  it.  On  being 
persecuted  under  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  many  took  refuge 
on  the  Continent,  and  it  was  from  among  these  fugitive 
Protestants  that  came,  in  a  later  reign,  the  pioneers  of  the 
new  world,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 

When  Elizabeth  ascended  the  throne  it  was  not  known 
what  religious  policy  she  would  pursue.  Philip  of  Spain 
was,  therefore,  very  friendly  to  her,  and  even  offered  her  his 
hand  in  marriage.  But  as  her  Protestant  policy  developed, 
a  natural  coolness  followed  between  England,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Spain,  supported  by  Catholic  Europe,  on  the 
other.  This  coolness  assumed  a  definite  form  of  enmity 
when  the  Pope  issued,  in  1570,  a  bull  of  excommunica- 
tion against  the  queen.  EnglSid,  more  and  more,  almost 
unconsciously  assumed  the  leadership  of  the  Protestant 
worM,  and  since  the  Catholic  reaction  was  growing  more 
ambitious  every  day,  it  was  plain  that  a  great  world-struggle 
between  Protestantism  and  Catholicism,  conducted  chiefly 
by  their  respective  champions,  England  and  Spain,  could 
not  be  long  put  off. 

Every  event  in  Elizabeth's  reign  contributed  to  precipi- 
tate the  struggle ;  notably  the  queen's  relations  with  Scot- 
land and  Scotland's  sovereign,  Mary  Stuart.  Scotland 
had  been  England's  foe  for  centuries,  and  the  bitterness 
between  the  two  kingdoms  was  probably  never  fiercer 
than  at  this  time.  Henry  VII.  had  wisely  attempted  to  es- 
tablish a  greater  harmony  between  the  royal  houses  by  mar- 
rying his  daughter  Margaret  to  James  IV.  But  war  was 
not  thereby  averted.  James  IV.  and  James  V.  both  sym- 
pathized with  France  and  both  perished  in  the  struggle 
against  England,  the  latter  (1542)  when  his  only  heir  and 


England  Under  the   Tudor s  91 

"ta-T^ 

successor,  Mary,  was  but  a  few  weeks  old.  Mary  Stuart's 
descent  from  Henry  VII.  and  the  prospective  failure  of 
Henry  VIII. 's  direct  descendants,  opened  for  the  child  the 
prospect  of  the  English  succession.  On  the  death  of  Mary 
Tudor  (1558),  there  was,  with  the  exception  of  Elizabeth, 
no  other  descendant  of  Henry  VII.  alive,  as  prominent  as 
she.  To  the  Catholics,  moreover,  who  saw  in  the  daugh- 
ter of  Anne  Boleyn  merely  an  illegitimate  child,  she  had 
even  a  better  claim  than  Elizabeth.  Out  of  this  relation  of 
the  two  women  to  the  English  throne,  sprang  their  intense 
hatred  of  each  other,  and  the  long  and  bloody  drama  of 
their  jealousy,  ending  in  Mary's  death  upon  the  scaffold. 

When  Mary  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Scotland,  she  was,  Mary  sent  to 
as  has  been  said,  a  child  in  arms.  Her  mother,  another 
Mary,  of  the  French  family  of  Guise,  assumed  the  regency, 
and  in  order  to  withdraw  her  child  from  possible  English 
influences,  sent  her  over  to  France,  where  she  was  soon  be- 
trothed to  the  heir  of  the  throne,  the  dauphin.^  Thus  the 
interests  of  France  and  Scotland  were  newly  knit,  to  the 
detriment  of  England, 

Mary  of  Guise  soon  met  with  great  difficulties  in  Scot-  The  Protestant 
land.  Toward  the  middle  of  the  century  the  voices  of  the  in  Scotland. 
Reformation  began  to  be  heard  in  the  land.  Conversions 
grew  apace,  and  soon  the  struggle  between  the  old  and  the 
new  faiths  was  engaged  here  as  everywhere.  But  nowhere 
was  it  so  brief  and  nowhere  was  the  victory  of  the  new 
teachings  so  decisive.  Scotland  was  still  a  backward,  feu- 
dal land,  where  the  chief  power  rested  with  a  lawless  nobil- 
ity. The  clergy,  too,  had  considerable  wealth  and  power, 
but  their  religious  indifference  and  luxurious  living  had 
weaned  from  them  the  affections  of  the  people.     By  the 

^  The  heir  to  the  French  throne  received  the  title  of  dauphin  in  the 
Middle  Age.  The  title  is  derived  from  the  province  of  Dauphiny.  In  the 
same  manner,  the  oldest  son  of  the  English  king  received  the  title  of 
prince  of  Wales. 


92 


Modern  Europe 


Establishment 
of  the  Kirk  of 
Scotland, 
1560. 


Mary  Stuart 
returns  to 
Scotland. 


operation  of  this  circumstance  the  hold  of  the  Catholic 
Church  on  Scotland  had  become  so  slight  that  the  fiery  ^ 
Calvinistic  preachers,  among  whom  John  Knox_(i 505-72) 
occupies  the  first  place,  had  only  to  proclaim  the  new  faith, 
to  have  it  accepted  by  the  people.  When  the  nobility, 
lured  by  the  prospect  of  the  rich  Church  lands,  threw  in 
their  lot  with  the  preachers,  the  political  success  of  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland  was  assured. 

There  was  no  hope  for  the  regent  Mary  against  the  re- 
formers but  in  the  French  alliance.  French  troops  were 
accordingly  sent  to  aid  her  against  her  rebellious  and  hereti- 
cal subjects,  and  these  were  in  possession  of  a  number  of 
important  places  and  on  the  road  to  repressing  the  Protes- 
tant movement  altogether,  when  Elizabeth  ascended  the 
throne.  The  wisdom  of  aiding  the  Scotch  Protestants  being 
obvious,  Elizabeth  immediately  hurried  men  and  ships  to  ihe 
north.  These  forces  succeeded  without  difficulty  in  bringing 
the  French  to  terms,  and  by  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh  (1560) 
the  latter  agreed  to  abandon  Scotland.  As  the  regent  died 
about  the  time  that  the  French  embarked  for  home,  and  as 
Queen  Mary  was  still  in  France,  the  Protestant  lords  sud- 
denly found  themselves  masters  of  the  situation.  In  a  Par- 
liament composed  of  the  friends  of  Knox,  they  established 
the  new  Church  of  Scotland,  the  Presbyterian  Kirk  (1560). 

It  is  not  recorded  with  what  feelings  the  absent  queen 
heard  of  these  occurrences.  Her  prospects  at  the  time  were 
so  extraordinarily  brilliant,  that  the  doings  of  rude,  nebulous 
Scotland  probably  affected  her  little.  Her  husband,  Francis 
II.,  had  lately  become  king  of  France,  and  ever  since  the 
death  of  Mary  Tudor  (1558)  she  and  her  husband  had  as- 
sumed the  style  of  king  and  queen  of  England.  But  a 
quick  succession  of  misfortunes  greatly  altered  her  circum- 
stances. Francis  II.  died  in  the  year  1560,  and  about  the 
same  time  Elizabeth  secured  her  hold  upon  England-   Scot- 


England  Under  the   Tudors  93 

land  was  now  all  that  was  left  to  Mary,  and  with  a  sudden 
assumption  of  energy,  she  hurried  to  her  native  country 

(1561). 

When  Mary  landed  at    Leith,  she  was  only  nineteen   The   situation 
years  old.     French  life  and  training  had  made  her  a  stran-   '"    '^^  ^"  * 
ger  in  her  own  land.    She  was  not  skilled  in  Scotch  affairs, 
and  was  confronted  by  a  nobility  which  held  the  political 
power  and  had  little  respect  for  the  sovereign.     Worst  of 
all,  she,  the  Catholic,  was  divided  by  the  abyss  which  in 
those  days  separated  Protestantism  and  Catholicism,  from 
the  hearts  of  her  subjects.     It  is  necessary  to  realize  these 
elements  of  the  situation  in   approaching  the  problem  of 
her  rule ;   but  it  is  also   necessary  to  have  a  view  of  her 
character,  in  order  to  understand  how  she  affected  and  was 
in  turn,  affected  by  the  situation. 

Mary  was  endowed  by  nature  with  admirable  gifts.  The  character 
Grace  of  figure  and  grace  of  spirit  were  added  to  a  nimble  °  ^^^' 
wit  and  a  keen  intelligence.  The  chance  that  tossed  her 
to  France,  furnished  her  with  a  rare  opportunity  for  devel- 
opment. The  court  of  the  Valois  had  become  the  home 
of  all  the  exquisite  influences  of  the  Renaissance,  and  the 
people  she  met  there,  the  very  air  she  imbibed,  breathed 
joy  and  art.  She  soon  became  the  ruling  genius  of  a 
bright  circle,  and  the  hours  revolved  for  her  amidst 
dancing,  music,  and  poetry.  Her  contemporaries  never 
tired  of  praising  her  beauty;  but  better  than  formal  beauty 
she  possessed  spiritual  fascination,  and  could  by  the  aid  of 
it  evoke  that  boundless  loyalty  which  raises  partisans  for 
her  even  in  our  day.  Thus  endowed  she  was  called  to  be 
a  great  queen,  on  one  condition:  she  must  subordinate 
her  passions  to  her  task  of  sovereign.  But  here  it  was 
that  she  failed.  Her  cousin  Elizabeth,  who  did  not  fail  in 
this  particular,  proved  herself  thereby,  if  not  the  better 
woman,  at  least,  the  greater  queen.     Comparing  the  two 


94  Modern  Europe 


sovereigns,   who  inevitably  force  a  comparison  upon  us, 
standing  as  they  do  in  history,  flashing  challenge  at  each 
other,  there  is  no  better  summary  of  the  contrast  which 
they  present  than  the  familiar  judgment :(  Elizabeth  was 
first  statesman  and  then  woman,  Mary  was  first  woman  and 
then  statesman.^ 
Mary  marries       Mary  began  well  enough.     She  accepted  the  Presbyte- 
arn  ey.   ^.^^  Kirk  and  only  reserved  to  herself  the  right  of  Catholic 
worship.     For  four  years  Scotland  enjoyed  peace.     But  in 
the  year  1565,  Mary  married  her  cousin.  Lord  Darnley, 
and  by  that  event  she  and  all  Scotland  were  plunged  into 
troubles  involving  a  succession  of  climaxes,  unique  in  his- 
tory. 
The  murder  of       Lord  Darnley  turned  out  to  be  proud,  loutish,  and  dis- 
Darnfey.  solute.     Hardly  married,  he  became  the  tool  of  the  party  of 

nobles  opposed  to  Mary.  They  represented  to  him  that  if 
he  did  not  enjoy  full  authority  with  the  queen,  it  was  due  to 
one  of  Mary's  foreign  secretaries,  an  Italian,  David  Rizzio. 
Darnley,  egged  on  by  the  nobles,  resolved  to  have  ven- 
geance. Together  with  some  followers,-  he  fell  upon  Riz- 
zio, dragged  him  from  the  royal  presence  chamber,  and  ^ 
despatched  him  at  Mary's  door  (1566).  Much  of  what 
followed  is  uncertain.  Certain  it  is  that  Mary's  love  for 
her  husband  was  henceforth  turned  to  poisonous  hate. 
She  planned  revenge.  For  the  present,  Darnley  and  his 
party  held  the  reins  in  their  hands  and  she  was  forced 
to  resort  to  dissimulation.  By  cleverly  feigning  affection, 
she  brought  her  husband  to  his  knees  before  her,  separated 
him  from  her  enemies,  and  quickly  reacquired  control. 
In  February,  1567,  the  house  where  Darnley  was  living 
just  outside  the  walls  of  Edinburgh  was  shattered  by  an 
explosion  of  gunpowder,  and  Darnley  was  found  dead  the 
next  morning.  Report  fixed  upon  the  earl  of  Bothwell, 
a  dare-devil  cavaHer,  who  was  known  to   be  in   love  with 


England  Under  the  Tudor s  95 

the  queen,  as  the  murderer.  Was  the  queen  his  accom- 
pHce?  The  question  has  been  put  but  never  answered 
satisfactorily.  By  what  followed  the  murder,  however,  she 
has  compromised  her  good  name  beyond  help.  Not  only 
did  she  permit  Bothwell's  trial  for  the  murder  of  Darnley 
to  degenerate  into  a  mere  farce,  but  shortly  after  his  ac- 
quittal she  married  him.   (  '  ' 

It  was  always  maintained  by  Mary,  that  in  marrying 
Bothwell  she  had  not  consulted  her  free  will,  but  had 
yielded  to  violence.  But  her  subjects,  horrified  at  her  con- 
duct, refused  to  believe  her.  They  revolted  against  her, 
and  although,  with  rare  courage,  she  rallied  again  and 
again  from  defeat,  by  the  year  1568  she  found  herself  with- 
out further  resources.  Despairing  of  success,  she  sought  Mary  flees  ta 
refuge  in  England.  She  would  have  done  better  to  have  "^  ^"  ' 
sought  it  in  the  sea.  She  became  Elizabeth's  prisoner,  and 
won  her  release  only,  after  nineteen  years,  by  laying  her 
head  upon  the  block.  The  government  of  Scotland  was 
intrusted,  on  Mary's  flight,  to  Mary's  half-brother.  Lord 
Murray,  who  assumed  the  regency  in  behalf  of  her  infant 
son,  Janies. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  explain  the  policy  which  Elizabeth   The    expiana- 
adopted  toward  her  royal  cousin.     It  was  dictated  chiefly  abeth's  atti-  ^^ 
by  considerations  of  state.      Looking  out  from   London   j"^^  toward 
over  Europe  the  queen  beheld  a  perplexing  situation.     She 
saw  Philip  II.  in  arms  against  the  Protestant  Netherlands 
(Alva  and  the  Council  of  Blood,  1567),  and  the  king  of 
France  preparing  to  make  an  end  of  the  Huguenots  (Mas- 
sacre of  St.  Bartholomew,    1572)  ;  she  heard  of  constant 
plots  on  the  part  of  her  own   Catholic  subjects  to  raise 
Mary  to  the  throne ;  and  she  saw,  in  general,  a  threaten- 
ing concentration  of  the  whole  Catholic  world  for  a  su- 
preme blow  against  the  Protestant  heresy. 

The  Catholic    reaction    organized   by    the   Council   of 


96 


Modern  Europe 


Execution  of 
Mary. 


Trent,  which  had  just  come  to  a  close  (1563),  was  now 
ripening  to  a  climax.     In  the  degree  in  which  it  matured, 
War  between   the  Struggle  between  England  and  Spain  was  becoming  in- 
England.  evitable.    Luckily  at  the  approach  of  the  great  crisis  the  teni- 

per  of  Englishmen  was  hardening  to  steel.  In  the  conscious- 
ness of  their  power,  they  even  invited  the  threatening  storm ; 
Sir  Francis  Drake  and  a  dozen  other  freebooters  fell  upon 
the  Spaniards  wherever  they  found  them,  plundered  them  on 
the  seas,  and  slaughtered  them  in  their  settlements.  While 
Philip  and  Elizabeth  were  still  protesting  friendship  in  of- 
ficial potes,  their  subjects  had  already  engaged  in  combat 
on  their  own  account.  Elizabeth's  aid  to  the  revolted 
Netherlands  finally  made  an  end  of  Philip's  patience.  He 
prepared  against  England  an  unexampled  armament. 

It  was  the  rumor  of  Philip's  invasion  of  England,  coup- 
led with  the  renewed  activity  of  the  Catholic  supporters  of 
Mary,  that  cost  the  unfortunate  queen  of  Scots  her  life. 
Probably  it  had  little  value  to  her  and  death  was  not  un- 
welcome. She  had  grown  old  and  gray  behind  prison 
walls  ;  she  knew  herself  beaten.  Lord  Burghley  pretended 
to  believe  that  Mary  was  a  party  to  a  conspiracy  which  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Babington  had  directed  against  the 
life  of  Elizabeth,  and  persuaded  the  queen,  who  hypocrit- 
ically feigned  reluctance,  to  sign  her  cousin's  death-warrant. 
In  February,  1587,  Mary  was  executed  at  Fotheringay. 

The  next  year  the  war  between  Spain  and  England  came 
to  a  head.  Philip,  having  at  length  got  together  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-two  ships,  proudly  called  his  Invincible 
Armada,  despatched  them  toward  the  English  coasts.  The 
plan  was  that  the  Armada  should  sail  first  to  the  Nether- 
lands, and  by  putting  itself  at  the  disposal  of  the  duke  of 
Parma,  who  commanded  the  Spanish  troops  in  this  part  of 
the  world,  should  enable  that  great  captain  to  effect  a  land- 
ing in  England.     The  island-realm  was  thoroughly  alive  to 


The  English 
prepare  to 
meet  the  Ar- 
mada. 


England  Under  the   Tudors  97 

its  danger.  In  the  face  of  the  foreign  invader,  all  relig- 
ious differences  were  forgotten  and  replaced  by  a  flaming 
national  enthusiasm  uniting  all  parties.  In  fact,  the  Ar- 
mada may  be  called  the  death-blow  of  English  Catholicjsm  ; 
for  from  now  on,  to  be  a  Catholic  meant  to  be  a  friend  of 
the  tyrant  Philip,  and  no  true  Enghshman  would  suffer 
the  imputation  of  such  dishonor.  An  army  and  a  navy, 
filled  with  the  spirit  which  is  ready  to  do  and  die,  were  put 
at  Elizabeth's  disposal.  But  the  main  burden  of  defence 
fell  necessarily  upon  the  seamen.  With  such  leaders  as 
Lord  Howard,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  and  Sir  Martin  Fro- 
bisher,  many  of  whom  had  spent  a  life-time  fighting  the 
Spaniards  on  all  known  seas,  the  Englisb  were  not  likely 
to  fail  for  want  of  bravery  and  skill.  Nor  were  they  likely  to 
fail  for  want  of  the  material  means  of  protection.  They  mus- 
tered even  more  ships  than  the  Spaniards,  finally  no  less  than 
one  hundred  and  ninety-seven.  Though  these  ships  were  The  defeat  of 
no  match  in  size  for  the  Spanish  galleons,  by  their  speed,  *  ^  ^"^^  ^ 
their  excellent  equipment,  and  the  perfect  seamanship  of 
their  sailors  they  more  than  made  up  the  difference  in  bulk. 
The  Spanish  fleet  had  hardly  appeared,  toward  the  end  of 
July,  1588,  off  the  west  coast  of  England,  before  the  small 
and  rapid  English  vessels  darted  in  upon  their  rear  and 
flank.  The  damage  which  was  done  the  Spaniards  during 
a  passage  of  the  Channel  lasting  eight  days,  forced  them  to 
harbor  off  Calais  for  repairs.  Here  a  number  of  fire-ships 
sent  among  them  discomfited  them  so  completely  that  the 
admiral  gave  up  the  enterprise.  Finding  the  Channel 
blocked  behind  him,  he  tried  to  make  for  home  by  the 
coast  of  Scotland.  But  there  he  fell  victim  to  the  equinoc- 
tial storms,  which  proved  to  be  even  more  terrible  enemies 
than  the  English.  The  Spanish  ships  were  shattered  miser- 
ably upon  the  rocks,  and  only  the  barest  remnant  ever  re- 
turned to  Cadiz  to  tell  the  tale  of  the  disaster. 


98 


Modern  Eur  op  i 


The  meaning 
of  the  English 
victory. 


Elizabeth's 
last  years. 


England 
adopts  the 
sea. 


England  was  safe;  and  more  than  England,  the  cause 
of  Protestantism  in  the  Netherlands  and  the  world  oyer. 
Spain  and  the  Catholic  reaction  had  staked  their  all  upon 
the  success  of  the  Armada  ;  having  lost,  their  aggressive- 
ness received  an  effective  check. 

As  for  Elizabeth,  the  coming  of  the  Spanish  Armada  was 
the  climax  of  her  brilliant  reign.  Henceforth  her  people 
identified  her  with  the  national  triumph  and  worshipped 
her  as  the  very  spirit  of  England.  But  her  private  life 
slowly  entered  into  eclipse.  She  was  old,  childless,  and 
lonely.  Her  last  sincere  attachment,  of  which  the  earl  of 
Essex  was  the  object,  brought  her  nothing  but  sorrow. 
Essex  had  been  put  at  the  head  of  an  army  destined  to 
subdue  Ireland,  which  was  just  then  agitated  by  the  fa- 
mous rising  of  O'Neil ;  but  as  he  flagrantly  mismanaged  his 
campaign  he  had  to  be  dismissed  in  disgrace.  Full  of 
resentment  against  Elizabeth,  he  now  engaged  in  a  treason- 
able plot,  but  was  discovered  and  executed  (1601).  It  is 
hard  to  believe  that  the  woman  who  all  her  life  looked 
upon  love  and  courtship  as  a  pleasant  recreation,  should 
have  really  cared  for  the  amiable  earl ;  certain  it  is,  how- 
ever, that  she  went  into  a  decline  soon  after  his  execution 
and  died  disgusted  with  the  world  (1603). 

Most  wonderful  to  consider  remams  England's  varied 
progress  during  this  reign.  In  fact,  the  reign  became  the 
starting-point  of  a  new  development.  For  the  first  time 
Englishmen  grew  aware  that  their  true  realm  was  the  sea. 
The  great  sailors  like  Drake,  Davis,  and  Frobisher  voyaged 
to  the  remotest  lands,  and  though  they  established  no  colo- 
nies, and  though  such  attempts  as  were  made  by  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  for  instance,  in  Virginia,  turned  out  to  be  prema- 
ture, the  idea  of  a  colonial  empire  in  the  future  was  im- 
planted in  the  minds  of  Englishmen  ;  and  for  the  present, 
there  were  established  lucrative  commercial  relations  with 


England  Under  the  Tudors  99 

various  parts  of  the  world.  Before  the  death  of  Elizabeth, 
England,  which  had  theretofore  allowed  Spain  a  monopoly 
of  the  sea,  had  fairly  entered  upon  the  path  of  oceanic  ex- 
pansion. The  spread  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  one  of  the 
"most  significant  events  of  Modern  History,  may  therefore 
be  dated  from  the  time  of  Good  Queen  Bess. 

With  the  increase  of  commerce,  there  came  an  increase  of  The  expan- 
industry  and  wealth  and  a  more  elevated  plane  of  living, 
which  showed  itself  in  a  greater  luxury  of  dress,  in  a  court- 
lier society,  and  in  the  freer  patronage  of  the  theatre  and 
the  arts.  Altogether  England  was  new-made.  The  Italian 
Renaissance  poured  out  its  cornucopia  of  gifts  upon  her, 
and  there  followed  such  an  energy  of  existence  and  expan- 
sion of  the  intellectual  Hfe  of  man  as  make  this  period  one 
of  the  great  culture-epochs  of  history.  The  Englishman 
of  Elizabeth's  time  broke  away  from  thenarrowing  mediaeval 
traditions  and  became,  like  the  Italian  of  the  previous  gen- 
eration^ entranced  by  the  beauty  of  the  world  which  spread 
out  before  him,  waiting  only  to  be  conquered.  ,  It  is  this 
kind  of  man,  exuberantly  happy  in  the  possession^  of  him- 
self and  his  environment,  who  produces  a  great  art.) 

The  great  art  by  which  Englishmen  expressed  their  sense  Shakespeare 
of  this  fresh  and  delightful  contemporary  life  is  the  drama.  ^"  .^^^'^' 
Christopher  Marlowe  (d.  1593),  Ben  Jonson  (d.  1637), 
but  especially  William  Shakespeare  (d.  16 16)  are  its  great 
luminaries.  But  the  other  fields  of  art  and  science  were 
not  left  uncultivated.  Edmund  Spenser  (d.  1599)  wrote 
the  great  epic  poem  of  the  English  tongue,  the  Faerie 
Queen,  and  Francis  Bacon  (d.  1626),  the  philosopher,  re- 
volutionized science  by  abandoning  the  dead  mediaeval 
methods  and  referring  man  directly  to  nature  and  ex- 
perience. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE     REVOLT     OF     THE     NETHERLANDS     AND     TRIUMPH     OF 
THE    SEVEN    UNITED    PROVINCES  (1566-1648) 


The  Nether- 
lands under 
the  Burgun- 
dian  princes. 


The  Nether- 
lands under 
the  Haps- 
burgs. 


The  part  of  Europe  which  has  been  designated  from  of 
old  as  the  Netherlands  or  Low  Countries,  is  embraced  ap- 
proximately by  modern  Holland  and  Belgium.  In  the 
Middle  Age  the  Netherlands  consisted  of  a  number  of  feudal 
principalities  or  provinces,  constituted  as  duchies,  coun- 
ties, or  lordships  (for  instance  the  duchy  of  Brabant,  the 
county  of  Flanders,  the  county  of  Holland),  all  of  which 
were  practically  independent  of  all  foreign  powers  and  of 
each  other,  although  there  was  not  one  to  which  France 
or  Germany  did  not,  by  some  unforgotten  feudal  right, 
have  a  claim.  In  the  later  Middle  Age  the  House  of  Bur- 
gundy, a  collateral  branch  of  the  House  of  France,  had  at- 
tempted to  consolidate  these  provinces  into  a  state,  which 
should  be  independent  of  both  the  western  and  the  eastern 
neighbor  ;  but  before  the  project  had  succeeded  the  family 
died  out  in  the  male  branch  with  Charles  the  Bold  (1477). 

In  spite  of  this  calamity  the  political  experiment  of 
the  Burgundian  princes  was  partially  successful.  Louis 
XI.  of  France,  indeed,  took  away  the  duchy  of  Burgundy 
and  incorporated  it  with  France,  but  the  Netherlands 
proper  passed  into  the  hands  of  Charles's  daughter  Mary, 
and  from  her,  through  her  marriage  with  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian, to  the  House  of  Hapsburg.  In  due  time  they  be- 
came the  possession  of  Maximilian's  grandson,  known  as 
Charles  V.  Charles  having  been  born  in  the  Netherlands, 
in  the  city  of  Ghent,  always  retained  an  affection  for  this 

100 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netfier lands  ioi 

corner  of  his  vast  dominions,  and  therefore  continued  the 
efforts  of  his  ancestors  at  consoHdating  its  diverse  territories. 
His  labor  was  not  entirely  without  results.  The  provinces, 
seventeen  in  number,  were  under  him  united  into  a  state 
possessing  a  certain  measure  of  compactness.  But  that 
slight  reform  did  not  allay  his  fears  about  this  precarious 
heritage.  His  rival,  France,  was  likely  to  covet  parts  of 
the  Netherlands,  and  in  order  to  give  them  protection  from 
that  side,  he  incorporated  them  in  a  loose  way  and  without 
impairing  their  independence,  with  Germany,  as  the  cir- 
cle of  Burgundy  (1548). 

The  Netherlands  are  peopled  by  two  races,  Kelts  and  The  Kelts  and 
Teutons,  who,  on  the  whole,  have  got  along  very  well  to-  ^  ^  ermans. 
gether  here.  The  Kelts  are  a  minority,  speak  a  French 
dialect,  and  inhabit  the  southern  districts  of  what  is  now 
Belgium.  The  Teutons  inhabit  the  northern  half  of  what 
is  now  Belgium  and  the  whole  of  what  is  now  Holland. 
Although  originally  one  in  blood  and  speech,  they  have 
been  artificially  divided,  by  the  chances  of  history,  into 
Flemish,  the  Teutons  of  Belgium,  and  Dutch,  the  Teutons  of 
Holland,  and  employ  two  slightly  different  German  dialects. 

A  good  part  of  the  land  of  the  Low  Countries  is  below   Physical 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  has  been  won  from  that  element   dykes  and 
only  in  undaunted,  century-long  struggles  by  means  of  a  canals, 
system  of  dykes,  which  form  the  rampart  of  the  land  against 
the  hungry  water.     But  the  sea  was  not  the  only  enemy 
to  overcome  in  order  to  render  the  Netherlands  habitable. 
The  equally  great  danger  arising  to  life  and  property  in 
these  parts  from  the  periodical  inundations  of  the  great 
rivers,  the  Rhine,  the  Meuse,  and  the  Scheldt  had  to  be 
met  by  an  enterprise  no  less  gigantic  than  the  dykes.     To 
carry  off  the  overflow  there    was   devised    and   gradually 
completed  a  system  of  canals,  which  covers  the  country 
like  a  net  and  distributes  the  water  from  the  rivers  over  a 


1 02 


Modern  Europe 


The  advance 
of  commerce 
and  intelli- 
gence. 


The  persecu- 
tions of 
Charles. 


vast  area.  The  plentiful  water-ways  of  Holland  and  Bel- 
gium, although  due  in  the  first  instance  to  necessity,  have 
proved  a  pure  blessing.  They  have  given  the  country  the 
greenest  and  the  richest  meadows  of  Europe,  and  besides, 
furnish  thoroughfares  for  traffic,  which  have  the  merit  of 
cheapness,  durability,  and  picturesqueness. 

The  original  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  were  farmers, 
herdsmen,  and  fishermen.  Commerce  and  industry,  gaining 
a  foothold  gradually,  created  cities.  These,  in  the  course 
of  the  Middle  Age,  wrung  charters  from  their  feudal  lords, 
acquired  a  substantial  burgher  freedom,  and  aided  by  their 
situation,  favorable  to  a  world-wide  intercourse,  presently 
eclipsed  the  other  cities  of  the  north.  Antwerp,  Bruges, 
Ghent,  Haarlem,  and  many  other  cities  shared  under  the 
Burgundian  princes  in  the  extension  of  trade  and  industry, 
and  raised  their  country,  in  point  of  material  prosperity, 
and  of  intellectual  culture,  to  the  first  rank  in  northern 
Europe.  During  the  long  reign  of  Charles  V.  the  activity 
of  the  inhabitants  was  spurred  to  its  highest  capacity,  and 
the  country  advanced  steadily  in  every  department  of  civi- 
lization. 

The  reign  of  Charles  in  the  Netherlands,  so  successful  in 
other  respects,  was  in  one  very  important  particular,  a 
conspicuous  failure.  The  religious  agitation  which  troubled 
Germany  was  naturally  disrespectful  of  landmarks,  and  at 
an  early  point  of  its  history  was  carried  into  the  Low 
Countries.  Charles,  whose  dependence  upon  the  princes  of 
the  Diet,  forced  him,  as  we  have  seen,  to  a  disastrous  dila- 
tory policy  in  Germany,  was  not  the  man  to  hesitate  where 
he  had  the  power  to  act.  In  the  Netherlands  the  Lutheran 
heresy  was,  therefore,  met  on  its  appearance  by  a  relentless 
hostility,  which  waxed  more  and  more  fierce,  as  Charles's 
reign  proceeded.  The  Inquisition,  already  engaged  in  its 
hateful  activity  in  Spain,  was  established  in   the  Nether- 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands  103 

lands  also,  and  special  inquisitors  were  appointed  for  every 
province.  Confiscations,  imprisonments,  burnings  at  the 
stake  became  a  daily  occurrence.  The  edicts  of  Charles 
against  heresy  finally  went  so  far  as  to  pronounce  the  pen- 
alty of  death  against  persons  discovered  to  have  in  their 
possession  suspected  writings,  against  those  who  held  secret 
prayer-meetings,  and  against  whosoever  ventured  merely  to 
discuss  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  Protestants  in  the  Neth- 
erlands were  long  hardly  more  than  a  handful,  but  Charles's 
rigor  did  not  exterminate  them.  In  fact,  their  numbers 
swelled  constantly.  The  persecution  only  served  to  illus- 
trate once  more  the  famous  observation  that  there  is  no 
seed  like  martyr's  blood.  To  the  original  Lutherans  were 
soon  added  Anabaptists  and  other  revolutionary  sects,  who 
found  the  intelligent  and  liberal  society  of  the  Netherlands 
a  fertile  soil  for  the  propagation  of  their  tenets,  and  from 
the  middle  of  the  century  the  faith  of  Calvin,  destined  to 
give  the  Protestantism  of  Holland  its  peculiar  mould,  found 
admission,  by  way  of  France,  into  all  the  leading  cities. 
In  this  part  of  the  world,  therefore,  the  Inquisition  found  a 
rich  harvest.  Contemporary  guesses  placed  the  figure  of 
its  victims  during  Charles's  reign  at  50,000  and  even  more. 
This  is  doubtless  an  exaggeration,  but  it  is  sufficiently  cor- 
rect to  establish  that  monarch's  partial  guilt  in  the  great 
tragedy  which  followed.  But  as  Charles  was  well  loved  in 
the  Netherlands,  there  was  during  his  life  no  important  out- 
break against  his  system.  At  last,  on  October  25,  1555, 
broken  by  his  failure  in  Germany,  he  formally,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  States-General,  resigned  his  crown  to  his  son 
and  heir,  Philip  II.  It  is  a  notable  stroke  of  historical 
irony,  that  on  that  splendid  occasion  the  aging  emperor 
appeared,  leaning  for  support  on  the  arm  of  a  young  man, 
who,  although  his  friend  and  favorite,  was  destined  to  do 
his  son  an  irreparable  injury,  William,  prince  of  Orange. 


[04  Modern  Europe 


Increased  per-       The  harsh,  cold  mind  of  Philip  11.  was  even  less  adapted 
Philip.  t^^^   his   father's    to  solve    the  religious   troubles   of   the 

Netherlands.  Like  his  father,  his  one  notion  of  healing 
heresy  was  to  extirpate  it,  root  and  branch.  The  Inquisi- 
tion was  immediately  spurred  on  to  greater  activity,  until 
the  fagot-fires  lighted  for  the  victims  of  the  new  faith  fairly 
wrapped  the  country  in  flames.  Philip  himself  remained  in 
the  Netherlands  to  watch  over  the  execution  of  his  orders, 
while  terror  began  to  steal,  like  a  spectre,  into  every  house- 
hold. The  majority  of  the  people,  though  still  Catholic, 
shared  the  Protestant  aversion  to  the  senseless  policy  of  the 
inquisitors,  and  a  gradual  discontent,  boding  a  storm, 
settled  upon  all  classes. 
The  Peace  of  But  there  was  other  work  in  the  world  for  Philip  besides 
bresis,  1559.  ~  persecuting  the  Dutch  Protestants.  In  order  finally  to  have 
his  hands  free  he  wished  to  close,  by  a  decisive  stroke, 
his  father's  long  wars  with  France.  He  therefore  prepared 
for  a  vigorous  campaign.  It  will  be  remembered  that  in 
1554  he  had  married  Queen  Mary  of  England,  thereby  se- 
curing himself  a  valuable  ally.  Having  twice  defeated  the 
French,  at  Saint  Quentin  (1557)  and  at  Gravehnes  (1558), 
and  having,  in  consequence,  disposed  them  to  a  settle- 
ment, he  refused  to  concern  himself  further  about  allied 
England,  and  concluded  with  France  the  Peace  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis  Cij^g).  England  paid  for  the  assistance  she 
had  rendered  Spain  by  the  loss  of  Calais ;  but  Philip  got 
what  he  wanted.  The  Peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  closes 
the  first  chapter  in  the  long  rivalry  of  France  and  Spain, 
and  is  the  substantial  admission  of  the  supremacy  of  Spain 
in  Europe.  It  was  a  feather  in  Philip's  cap — ^just  the  kind 
of  thing  he  needed  to  impress  his  various  peoples.  Now, 
at  last,  he  resolved  to  go  to  Spain.  I^eaving  his  half-sister, 
Margaret  of  Parma,  as  regent  in  the  Netherlands,  he  sailed 
away  (1559)  never  to  return. 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands  105 

His  departure  hurried  the  threatening  crisis.  The  gov-  The  growing 
eminent  had  been  intrusted  to  the  Regent  Margaret  and  a  ^^^^-  ^'^  \^^ 
Council  of  State,  composed  chiefly  of  Philip's  creatures.  y\ 
It  is  plain  that,  if  the  master  had  encountered  opposition, 
the  measures  of  servile  favorites  of  his  were  bound  to  arouse 
furious  resentment.  Moreover,  Margaret's  government,  far 
from  taking  any  trouble  to  attach  the  people  to  itself, 
seemed  rather  to  make  a  business  of  alienating  every  class. 
The  nobles,  who  had  formerly  had  great  influence  in  the  ad- 
ministration, found  themselves  supplanted  by  a  few  upstart 
courtiers.  Naturally  their  grievances  brought  them  more 
closely  together,  and  the  most  powerful  of  them,  the  Prince 
William  of  Orange,  and  the  Counts  Egmont  and  Home, 
rose  into  the  position  of  opposition  leaders.  The  burghers 
had  even  a  longer  list  of  complaints  than  the  nobles. 
They  were  excited  by  the  illegal  quartering  on  their  towns 
of  Spanish  troops  ;  they  complained  of  the  multiplication 
of  bishoprics,  which  had  the  tendency  of  strengthening  the 
hold  of  the  Church;  and,  finally,  they  were  insulted  by  the 
grievance,  now  a  generation  old,  and  borne  with  less  and 
less  patience,  of  the  Inquisition  and  its  judicial  murders. 
Discontent  was  plainly  ripening  to  revolt. 

The  occasion  for  the  rising  was  furnished  by  the  nobles.  The  protest  of 
In  1565  they  formed  a  league  among  themselves,  the  pur-  \^(^^  ^^' 
pose  of  which  was  to  secure  the  abolition  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, operating,  as  they  put  it,  ''  to  the  great  dishonor  of 
the  name  of  God  and  to  the  total  ruin  of  the  Netherlands." 
In  the  same  document  in  which  they  made  this  complaint 
they  avowed  their  continued  allegiance  to  the  king.  It 
was  not  the  dynasty  against  which  they  protested,  but  the 
abuse  which  the  dynasty  upheld.  On  April  5,  1566,  three 
hundred  of  their  number  marched  on  foot  through  Brussels, 
which  served  as  the  capital  of  the  country,  to  the  palace 
of  the  regent,  to  lay  a  statement  of  their  grievances  in  her 


[o6  Modern  Europe 


hands.  She  was  sorely  perplexed  by  the  imposing  demonstra- 
tion, but  half  dead  with  fright,  she  promised  to  forward 
the  document  to  the  king.  In  a  banquet  that  followed,  the 
nobles,  amidst  a  scene  of  unbounded  enthusiasm,  took  the  ■ 
name  of  beggars  (gueux),  which,  so  the  legend  runs,  was 
flung  at  them  insultingly  by  one  of  the  courtiers  as,  petition 
in  hand,  they  drew  up  before  the  regent. 
The  revolt  of  The  bold  act  of  the  ''  beggars  "  thrilled  the  whole  coun- 
breakerfri566.  try.  Unfortunately  it  unchained  also  the  long-repressed 
indignation  of  the  people.  The  government  of  the  regent 
was  set  at  naught.  To  all  alike  it  seemed  that  the  time  had 
come  when  the  restraints  which  had  weighed  upon  them 
should  be  cast  to  the  winds.  The  citizens,  imitating  the 
nobles,  formed  a  league  among  themselves  and  raised  money 
and  soldiers.  The  Protestants  openly  avowed  their  faith, 
and  gathering  in  large  troops  before  the  cities,  listened  with 
greedy  ears  to  the  revolutionary  addresses  of  fanatic  pastors. 
At  length  the  excitement  culminated  in  a  furious  revolt. 
The  Catholic  churches  were  invaded,  their  pictured  win- 
dows, their  saintly  images  were  broken,  their  crosses  and 
altars  were  shattered  to  fragments.  The  ruin  of  art  wrought 
by  these  iconoclasts  was  incalculable.  It  was  weeks  before 
the  fury  spent  itself,  and  months  before  the  government 
rallied  enough  of  the  orderly  elements  to  repress  the  in- 
surgents. Philip  had  received  his  warning.  Would  he 
understand  it? 
The  coming  of  It  is  very  possible  that  the;  abolition  of  the  Inquisition 
and  the  proclamation  of  religious  tolerance,  which  the 
nobles  demanded,  would  have  put  an  end  to  all  trouble.  | 
But  these  ideas  were  foreign  to  the  rulers  of  that  day,  and^ 
seemed  nothing  less  than  deadly  sin  to  a  bigoted  Catholic 
like  Philip.  Instead  of  assisting  the  regent  in  confirming 
the  recently  established  order,  he  planned  a  fearful  ven- 
geance.    One  of  his  best  generals  was  the  duke  of  Alva. 


Alva. 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands  107 

Soldier  and  bigot,  he  was  the  typical  Spaniard  of  his  day, 
animated  with  blind  devotion  to  his  king  and  to  his  faith. 
Him  Philip  commissioned  with  the  punishment  of  the 
Netherlands,  and  in  the  summer  of  1567  Alva  arrived  at 
Brussels  at  the  head  of  an  excellent  corps  of  20,000  Span- 
iards. Terror  spread  at  his  approach.  Although  his  pur- 
pose was  not  stated,  and  might  be  peaceful,  it  was  apparent 
that  20,000  soldiers  were  more  than  a  mere  company  of 
honor.  Just  before  Alva  arrived  Prince  William  of  Orange, 
with  a  host  of  those  who  felt  themselves  compromised  by 
the  recent  events,  crossed  the  border  into  safety. 

Alva  did  not  long  leave  the  anxious  people  in  doubt  as  The  Council 
to  whether  he  aimed  at  peace  or  war.  A  council,  infamous  ^'^  Blood, 
in  history  as  the  Council  of  Blood,  was  set  up  for  the  dis- 
covery of  all  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  late  troubles. 
Whosoever  was  seized  by  the  police  was  put  to  death ; 
thousands  perished,  hundreds  of  thousands  fled  the 
country.  Among  the  more  illustrious  victims  were  the 
Counts  Egmont  and  Home,  whom  neither  their  Catholic 
faith  nor  their  services  to  the  king  could  save.  Paralyzed 
by  the  violence  of  the  attack  the  country*meekly  suffered 
the  unheard-of  persecution. 

In  these  difficulties  the  first  help  was  extended  from  William  of 
without.  William  of  Orange  ^  had  saved  himself  to  some  '"'^"S'^- 
purpose.  He  now  began  the  glorious  career  by  which  he 
founded  the  liberties  of  his  country  and  became  its  hero 
and  its  martyr.  The  world  has  known  many  a  better  gen- 
eral and  perhaps  many  a  more  skilful  statesman,  but  it  has 
never  known  a  stouter,  more  courageous  heart.     Frequently 


» William  is  also  called,  and  quite  as  properly,  William  of  Nassau. 
The  national  hero  of  the  Netherlands  was  not  a  born  Dutchman.  He 
belonged  to  an  originally  German  family  that  was  established  at 
many  points  of  Europe.  Orange  for  instance,  was  a  little  principality 
in  southern  France  ;  Nassau  lay  in  Germany.  At  Nassau  William  was 
born.  His  interest  in  the  Netherlands  was  due  to  the  large  possessions 
which  the  family  had  there. 


io8  Modern  Europe 

almost  single-handed,  and  at  best  with  hardly  more  than 
the  divided  support  of  his  little  people,  he  braved  the 
world-power  of  Spain,  and  through  defeat  piled  on  defeat 
held  out  in  his  resolution.  William  the  Silent  is  his  title 
in  history ;  it  tells  a  tale  of  patient  endurance  of  every 
kind  of  disaster,  and  is  another  way  of  saying  William  the 
Brave. 
Thebeginning  In  the  spring  of  1568  Wilham,  having  collected  about 
him  his  brothers  and  other  emigrants,  and  having  turned 
all  his  available  possessions  into  money,  began  gathering 
an  army  for  the  purpose  of  invading  the  Netherlands.  His 
project  was  equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  war  against 
Philip.  Both  sides,  recognizing  that  the  time  for  delibera- 
tion was  over,  now  prepared  to  settle  the  issues  between 
them  on  the  battle-field.  Their  contemporaries,  to  whom 
it  seemed  that  no  amount  of  courage  could  wipe  out  the 
awful  disproportion  between  the  combatants  in  wealth  and 
numbers,  generally  shrugged  their  shoulders  in  pity  or 
derision  at  the  diminutive  people  which  challenged  the 
greatest  power  of  Europe.  And  yet,  after  a  dramatic 
struggle  of  eighty  years  (i 568-1648),  the  small  nation 
issued  from  the  fight  as  victor.  No  war  more  honorable 
than  this  has  ever  been  waged  in  the  history  of  our  race. 
The  Spanish  The  first  campaign  of  the  long  war  of  Dutch  Independ- 

the*ffddf  *  G^ce  proved  the  complete  superiority  of  Spanish  generalship 
and  Spanish  soldiery.  First,  William's  brother,  Louis, 
and  then  William  himself  were  defeated  and  their  armies 
scattered.  Alva  in  consequence  made  light  of  the  inva- 
sion. It  had  not  been  supported,  as  William  had  calcu- 
lated, by  an  internal  rising.  To  all  appearances  the 
country,  crushed  under  the  Spanish  heel,  had  fallen  into 
a  torpor.  But  if  this  was  what  Alva  counted  on,  he  was 
destined  before  long  to  a  harsh  awakening.  The  Nether- 
lands had,  indeed,  failed  from  fear  to  respond  to  William's 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands  109 

first  call,  but  unfortunate  as  the  campaign  of  1568  was,  it 
had  had  its  effect ;  it  had  excited  the  people  for  a  moment 
with  the  hope  of  deliverance  and  so  stiffened  them  for  resist- 
ance. Alva's  own  folly  did  the  rest.  Every  act  of  his 
strengthened  them  in  their  feeling  that  death  was  better  than 
life  under  the  Spanish  rule.  This  appeared  when  Alva 
attempted  (1571)  to  fill  his  empty  treasury  by  a  system  of 
outrageous  extortion,  the  chief  feature  of  which  was  a  tax  of 
ten  per  cent,  upon  every  commercial  transaction,  including 
even  the  purchase  of  the  daily  necessaries.  To  this  mon- 
strous proposition  the  citizens  responded  simply  by  the  clos- 
ing of  their  shops  and  the  total  cessation  of  business. 

While  Alva  was  still  embarrassed  by  the  commercial 
deadlock  which  he  had  himself  created,  there  came  the  news 
of  the  first  triumph  of  the  insurgents.  If  Spain  held  the 
land  in  her  iron  grasp,  she  could  not  in  the  same  unchal- 
lenged way  hold  the  sea,  peculiarly  the  element  of  the 
Dutch.  Dutch  freebooters,  known  as  the  '*  beggars  of  the  The  Dutch 
sea,"  had  long  done  great  harm  to  the  Spanish  trade,  the^sS^^  °" 
but  now  (1572),  rendered  bold  by  the  misfortunes  of  their 
fellow-countrymen,  they  swept  down  upon  the  coast,  and 
secured  the  first  stronghold  in  their  fatherland  at  a  point 
called  Brille.  Dozens  of  towns,  especially  in  the  northern 
provinces,  felt  suddenly  encouraged  to  drive  the  Spaniards 
out,  and  Alva  unexpectedly  found  his  power  limited  to  Brus- 
sels and  the  south.  Thereupon  the  liberated  province  of 
Holland  elected  WiUiam  the  Silent  its  Stadtholder,  ^  and 
Holland  and  Zealand  together,  both  situated  on  the  sea,  be- 
came from  this  time  forth  the  heart  of  the  Dutch  resistance. 

Thrown  into  the  fiercest  mood  by  these  sudden  reverses, 
Alva  prepared  to  win  back  the  lost  ground.      Pity  hence- 


'  Stadtholder  is  about  equivalent  in  meaning  to  Lord-Lieutenant. 
The  choice  of  the  word  was  determined  by  the  desire  not  to  offend 
Philip,  whose  legitimate  right  was  at  this  time  not  yet  questioned. 


no  Modern  Europe 


Barbarous         forth  was  excluded  from  his  thoughts.      MechHn,  Haarlem, 

the  war.  ^^^^  many  Other  towns,  which  he  recaptured,  were  delivered 

to  the  unbridled  excesses  of  the  Spanish  soldiery.  Women 
and  children  were  slaughtered  in  cold  blood.  The  war  en- 
tered upon  a  new  stage,  in  which  oppressors  and  oppressed 
thirsted  for  each  other's  blood  like  wild  beasts,  and  neither 
sought  nor  gave  quarter.  It  was  a  fight  to  the  last  ditch 
and  of  unexampled  fury. 

Recall  of  Alva.  Alva's  incapacity  to  deal  with  the  situation  was  soon 
apparent  to  friend  and  foe.  Before  the  walls  of  Alkmaar 
he  met,  in  the  year  1573,  with  a  serious  check.  His  six 
years  of  government  (1567-73)  by  Council  of  Blood  and 
Inquisition  had  ended  in  unqualified  disaster.  Tired 
of  staring  at  the  ruin  about  him  he  demanded  his 
recall. 

His  successor  as  Spanish  governor-general  was  Requesens 
(1573-76).  Requesens  was  a  .sensible,  moderate  man,  who 
might  have  done  something,  if  matters  had  not  gone  so  far 
under  Alva.  But  although  he  abolished  the  Council  of 
Blood  and  proclaimed  an  amnesty,  everybody  continued  to 
look  upon  him  with  distrust.     So  he  had  to  proceed  with  the 

The  siege  of  military  subjugation  of  the  revolted  provinces.  The  most 
notable  event  of  his  lieutenancy  was  the  siege  of  Leyden 
(1573-74),  When  the  city  seemed  for  failure  of  provisions 
to  be  lost,  William  of  Orange,  all  of  whose  attempts  to  suc- 
cor the  city  had  been  thwarted,  resolved  on  an  extreme 
measure  :  he  ordered  that  the  dykes  be  cut.  As  the  water  of 
the  sea  rushed  over  the  fields,  the  **  beggars  "  crowded  after 
in  their  ships,  until  their  heroic  efforts  brought  them  to 
the  walls  of  the  city.  Thus  Leyden  was  saved,  and 
its  name  was  celebrated  with  tears  and  thank-offerings, 
wherever  Protestants  in  Europe  met  to  commune.'  Prince 
William,  wishing  to  reward  the  brave  inhabitants  for 
their  heroism,  offered  them  freedom  from  taxation  or  the 


Leyden,   1574. 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands  1 1 1 

establishment  of  a  university.  Wisely  the  single-minded 
burghers  chose  the  latter,  and  during  the  next  two  cen- 
turies, the  University  of  Leyden  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
universities  of  the  world. 

The  death  of  Requesens,  which  occurred  in  1576,  was 
the  indirect  cause  of  a  further  extension  of  the  revolt.  As 
yet  it  had  been  confined  to  the  provinces  of  the  north, 
which  had  generally  adopted  the  Protestantism  of  Calvin,  The  death  of 
and  to  such  occasional  cities  of  the  south  as  inclined  toward  am?the  Padfi- 
the  same  faith.  Revolt  from  the  Spanish  yoke  seemed  to  Ration  of 
follow,  wherever  Protestantism  had  gone  before.  The 
grievances  of  the  southern  provinces  against  Spain  were 
certainly  as  great  as  those  of  the  north,  but  as  the  south- 
erners clung  to  the  Catholic  faith,  they  always  retained 
some  affection  for  the  Spanish  rule.  For  a  brief  moment, 
however,  following  the  death  of  Requesens,  north  and  south, 
Teuton  and  Kelt,  Protestant  and  Catholic — in  a  word,  the 
United  Netherlands — bound  themselves  together  in  one  re- 
sistance. The  occasion  was  furnished  by  the  general  horror 
inspired  by  the  Spanish  soldiery,  which,  left  leaderless  upon 
the  death  of  Requesens,  indulged  itself  in  stealing,  murder- 
ing, and  sacking  of  the  cities.  The  ''  Spanish  Fury,"  as 
the  outbreak  was  called,  did  especial  damage  at  Antwerp. 
This,  the  richest  trading  city  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  was 
reduced  to  ashes  and  condemned  to  a  decline  from  which  it 
did  not  recover  for  two  hundred  years.  Indignation  at 
these  outrages  swept  the  country  and  in  the  Pacification  of 
Ghent  (1576),  north  and  south  proclaimed  their  common 
interests  and  prepared  to  make  a  common  stand  against 
the  oppressor. 

It  was  the  most  auspicious  moment  of  the  revolution,  but 
it  was  not  destined  to  bear  fruit.     The  religious  distrust  be-    North  and 
t ween  Protestants  and  Catholics,  and  less  conspicuously,  the   o^oiwfy/  ^^^ 
national  differences  between  Kelts  and  Teutons,  fomented 


112 


Modern  Europe 


The  Union 
of  Utrecht, 
1579. 


The  Seven 
United  Prov- 
inces form 
an  indepen- 
dent state. 


by  the  shrewd  governors,  Don  John  of  Austria  (1576-78) 
and  the  duke  of  Parma  (1578-92),  who  succeeded  Re- 
quesens,  soon  annulled  the  Pacification  of  Ghent  and  drove 
a  wedge  between  the  north  and  south,  the  result  of  which 
we  still  trace  to-day,  in  the  existence  of  a  Protestant 
Holland  and  a  Catholic  Belgium. 

It  was  especially  owing  to  Alexander  Farnese,  duke  of 
Parma,  a  most  excellent  general  and  diplomat,  that  the 
southern  provinces  were  saved  for  Spain.  He  was  clever 
enough  to  flatter  their  Catholic  prejudices  and  to  promise 
a  restoration  of  their  privileges.  If  he  had  not  been  con- 
stantly interfered  with  by  Philip  he  might  even  have  re- 
conquered the  north.  Thus  with  heavy  heart  William  the 
Silent  had  gradually  to  relinquish  the  hope,  extended  by 
the  Pacification  of  Ghent,  of  a  united  action  of  the  whole 
Netherlands  against  Spain.  Still  he  never  wavered  in  his 
faith,  and  soon  succeeded,  on  a  smaller  scale,  in  effecting 
an  organization  of  the  revolt.  Hitherto  the  resistance  had 
been  left  almost  exclusively  to  the  separate  provinces.  In 
1579,  the  Protestant  provinces  of  the  north,  finally  seven 
in  number  (Holland,  Zealand,  Utrecht,  Gelderland,  Over- 
yssel,  Groningen,  and  Friesland)  formed,  for  the  purpose 
of  an  improved  defence,  the  Union  of  Utrecht.  The 
Articles  of  the  Union  of  Utrecht  practically  remained  the 
constitution  of  the  new  Dutch  Republic  well  into  modern 
times. 

The  character  of  the  Union  of  Utrecht  is  often  mis- 
understood. Its  purpose  did  not  go  so  far  as  the  purpose 
of  the  American  Declaration  of  Independence.  It  was 
rather  in  the  minds  of  its  originators  a  Protestant  league, 
established  for  the  purpose  of  defence  against  illegal  aggres- 
sion, and  did  not  preclude  a  reconciliation  with  the  legiti- 
mate sovereign.  Two  years  later,  however,  the  final  step 
was  taken  on  the  road  toward  independence  (1581)  ;  the 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands  113 

States-General,  or  Parliament  of  the  Seven  United  Province 
formally  declared  Philip  deposed.  As  the  crown  was  not 
conferred  on  anyone  else,  William  of  Orange,  the  heredi- 
tary Stadtholder  of  Holland,  which  was  the  largest  and 
richest  of  the  provinces,  was  allowed  to  keep  the  direction 
of  affairs  in  his  hands.  Thus  a  new  state  made  its  en- 
trance into  history. 

Philip  had  already  seen  that  William  the  Silent  was  the  The  murder 
backbone  of  the  resistance,  and  that  by  good  or  ill  means  [j^^  silent" 
he  must  be  got  rid  of,  if  the  revolt  was  to  be  mastered.    ^584- 
When  bribes    failed  to    detach    William    from    the   cause 
of  freedom,   the    Spanish  bigot    published  a  ban  against 
him,  declaring   his  life  forfeit,  and  putting  a  price  upon 
his  head.     Whoever  murdered  him  was  to  receive  a  patent 
of  nobihty  and  25,000  gold  crowns.     Even  such  dastard- 
ly measures  as  these   did  not  frighten  William.      In  his 
answer,  the  famous  '' Apology,"    he  justified   his  course 
and  drew  a  stinging  portrait  of  Philip  which  will  be  memor- 
able to  the  end  of  time.     But  the  rich  offer  of  the  Spanish 
blood-money  had  its  effect.     After  a  half-dozen  attempts 
to  dispatch  William  had  failed,  Balthasar  Gerard,  a  fanatic 
from  the  Franche  Comte,  fatally  shot  him,  as,  arm  in  arm  ^ 

with  a  friend,  he  was  coming  down  the  stairway  of  his 
palace  at  Delft  (July  10,  1584).  His  last  thoughts  turned 
toward  the  struggle  in  which  his  countrymen  were  en- 
gaged. ^'  Lord  have  pity  on  my  soul,"  he  said,  *'  and  on 
this  poor  people."  Gerard  was  executed,  but  Philip,  who 
kept  his  word  scrupulously,  made  over  the  promised  re- 
ward to  the  murderer's  heirs. 

William's  death  was  a  heavy  blow  to  the  cause  of  the  The  Enghsh 
Dutch,  especially  coming  at  the  time  it  did.     The  duke  of 
Parma  was  just    then  winning  victory  after  victory,   and 
constantly  narrowing  the   territory  of  resistance;  in  fact 
only  Holland  and   Zealand  still  held  out  against  him.     It 


114  Modern  Europe 

was  becoming  painfully  evident,  even  to  the  most  sanguine 
patriots,  that  nothing  but  the  interference  of  the  great 
powers  of  Europe  could  save  the  provinces.  The  defence, 
nevertheless,  was  not  in  the  least  abated.  Maurice,  the 
gifted  seventeen-j^aT-old_so^n_of  William,  was  appointed 
Stadtholder,  and  at  his  side  there  rose  to  influence,  as 
Pensionary  or  Prime  Minister,  the  wise,  statesman -like  John 
of  Oldenbarneveldt.  The  States-General  then  offered  the 
provinces  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  Although  she  refused  to 
accept  them,  she  could  no  longer  safely  or  honorably  deny 
them  her  help.  Catholic  Spain  and  Protestant  England  had 
already  begun  to  clash  upon  the  sea,  and  the  Protestant 
sentiment  of  England  had  declared  vehemently  for  the  per- 
^cuted  co-religionists  of  the  Netherlands.  Cold  and  cau- 
tious as  Elizabeth  was,  she  never  set  herself  against  the 
national  wishes,  and  so,  in  1585,  the  first  English  troops, 
under  the  command  of  the  queen's  favorite,  the  earl  of  Lei- 
cester, were  dispatched  to  Holland  in  aid  of  the  insurgents.^ 
Although  Leicester  proved  thoroughly  incompetent,  and 
had  in  1587  to  retire  in  disgrace,  his  interference  brought 
relief  and  probably  through  its  consequences  saved  the 
Dutch.  Abandoning  the  prey  which  he  had  almost  capt- 
ured, Philip  IL  turned  furiously  upon  the  English.  For 
the  next  years,  he  seems  to  have  forgotten  his  original 
enterprise;  first  the  English,  and  then  the  French  Huguenots 
Spain  dissi-  engrossed  his  thoughts.  There  follow  the  disaster  of  the 
e^^rin^o'ther  Armada  (1588),  the  campaigns  in  France  against  the 
Protestant  Henry  of  Navarre  (1589-98),  and  in  general 
such  a  dissipation  and  ruin  of  the  Spanish  power,  as  made 


wars. 


•  The  most  celebrated  name  among  these  Englishmen  was  that  of  the 
poet,  Sir  I'hilip  Sidjiey.  At  the  siege  of  Zutphen,  Sidney  laid  down  his 
life  for^tho  Dutch  cause.  He  was  celelirated  as  the  perfect  knight,  as 
the  Sir  Launcelot  of  his  day,  and  the  last  gracious  little  act  of  his  life, 
when  he  ordered  that  the  water  which  was  being  offered  him  should  be 
first  presented  to  a  common  soldier  dying  at  his  side,  lingers  in  one's 
imagination. 


The  Revolt  of  the  NetJicrlands  115 

it  forever  impossible  for  Spain  to  return,  with  anything 
like  the  old  energy,  to  the  attack  upon  the  young  Republic. 
However,  Philip  11.  stubbornly  held  out  against  the  Nether- 
lands. Even  after  the  death  (1592)  of  his  great  general, 
the  duke  of  Parma,  whose  advice  had  almost  always  been 
good  and  had  almost  never  been  followed,  he  continued  the 
war.  Philip  III.,  who  was  as  proud  as  his  father,  suc- 
ceeded him  (1598),  and  he  too  refused  at  first  with  the 
same  obstinacy  to  listen  to  peace.  But  all  this  time  the 
Dutch  fortunes  were  plainly  in  the  ascendant.  Maurice, 
who  was  a  gallant  soldier,  especially  skilled  in  conduct- 
ing a  siege,  won  back  from  the  Spaniards  place  after 
place;  the  brave  Dutch  sailors  swept  home  and  foreign 
waters  clear  of  Spanish  fleets;  and  the  statesman,  John  of 
Oldenbarneveldt,  preserved  the  internal  peace  and  encour- 
aged Dutch  commerce — creating,  in  1602,  the  celebrated 
India  Company,  to  which  the  Dutch  Republic  owed  in 
large  measure  her  vast  oriental  trade  and  possessions. 

Under  these  conditions  Spain  at  last  saw  herself  forced 
to  come  to  terms  with  her  revolted  subjects.     Too  arrogant  ,        J  U^ 

to  acknowledge  herself  defeated  and  once  for  all  recognize  /viy^^^^ 

the   Republic,   she  would   do   no  more   than   conclude    a  ^^^f"^ 
Twelve  Years'  Truce  (1609).  j    It  was  not  the  end,  but  as   The  Twelve 
good  as  the  end.     When  the  truce  was  over  (1621),  the   JnXt'hJpSi^^e 
Thirty  Years'  War  was  raging  in  Europe,  and  although  Spain   ^^  Westphalia, 
tried  to  make  the  confusion  serve  her  purposes,  and  again 
attacked   the  Dutch,  the  interference   at  different  times  of 
France,   England,  and   the   German   Protestants,   coupled 
with  the  firm  resistance  of  the  hardy  little  nation,  rendered 
the  second  effort  at  the  subjugation  of  the  Dutch  even  more 
vain  than  the  first.     When  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648) 
put  an  end  to  the  long  German  war,  Spain  at  last  declared 
herself  ready   for    the  great  humiliation.     Together  with 
Germany  and  the  other  signatory  powers  of  that  famous 


ii6 


Modern  Europe 


Internal  diffi- 
culties. 


The  progress 
of  civilization. 


peace-instrument  she  acknowledged  the  independence  of 
the  Dutch  Republic. 

The  young  Republic  was,  of  course,  not  saved  from  in- 
ternal conflicts.     The  fact  that  the  Union  of  Utrecht  united 
the  seven   provinces  in  only  a  loose  way,  caused  constant 
difficulties.     The  seven  local  governments  remained  per- 
sistently jealous   of  the  central   authorities,  consisting    of 
Council  of  State  and  States-General,  and  tried  to  limit  their 
influence.     It  was  only  because  the  province  of  Holland 
was  stronger  than  the  other  six  put  together,  and  could  im- 
pose her  will,  which  made  for  unity,  upon  the  rest,  that  the  . 
centrifugal  tendencies  did  not  gain  the  upper  hand.     But 
perhaps  even  a  more  serious  difficulty  than  this  of  provin- 
cial jealousy  was  the  conflict  which  arose  between  the  mon- 
archical and  republican  parties.     Maurice  of  Nassau  not 
unnaturally  tried  to  acquire  the  sovereignty  for  his  family, 
and  the  lower  people,  dissatisfied  with  the  exclusive  burgher 
regimen  in  the  great  trading  centres,  supported  him  will- 
ingly.    Opposed  to  Maurice  was  the  wealthy  burgher  class. 
This  class  preferred  republican  to  monarchical  institutions, 
but  it  desired  selfishly  to  extend  the  republican  privileges  to 
none  but  members  of  its  own  order.     At  the  head  of  this 
party  stood  the  Grand  Pensionary,  John  of  Oldenbarneveldt. 
Under  these  conditions,  Maurice  and  Oldenbarneveldt  were 
not  long  in  falling  out,  and  finally  in  the  year   1619,  the 
hot-headed  Stadtholder  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  what  he 
called  the  chicanery  of  the  statesman.     In  bold  defiance 
of  law,  he  had  the  aged  Pensionary  arrested  and  beheaded. 
Although  Spain  hoped  much  from  these  and  similar  dis- 
sensions, they  benefited  her  nothing,  and  hardly  impaired, 
even  momentarily,  the  marvellous  Dutch  development. 

In  fact,  the  commercial  and  intellectual  advance  of  the 
Republic,  during  the  course  of  the  war,  remains  the  most 
astonishing  feature  of  the  period.     It  was  as  if  the  heroic 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands  Wj 

struggle  gave  the  nation  an  irresistible  energy,  which  it 
could  turn  with  success  into  any  channel.  The  little  sea- 
board state,  which  human  valor  had  made  habitable  al- 
most against  the  decrees  of  nature,  became  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  not  only  one  of  the  great  political  powers 
of  Europe,  but  actually  the  leader  in  commerce  and  in 
certain  branches  of  industry ;  contributed,  beyond  any 
other  nation,  to  contemporary  science;  and  produced 
a  school  of  painting,  the  glories  of  which  are  hardly  in- 
ferior to  those  of  the  Italian  schools  of  the  Renaissance. 
Such  names  as  Hugo  Grotius  (d.  1645),  the  founder  of  in- 
ternational law;  as  Spinoza  (d.  1677),  the  philosopher;  as 
Rembrandt  (d.  1674)  and  Frans  Hals  (d.  1666),  the  paint- 
ers, furnish  sufficient  support  to  the  claim  of  the  United 
Provinces  to  a  leading  position  in  the  history  of  civiliza- 
tion. Their  material  prosperity,  which  was  as  wonderful 
in  its  way  as  their  culture,  was  derived  from  a  world- 
wide trade.  This  was  particularly  extensive  with  the  East 
Indies,  and  it  was  here  that  there  were  developed  the  most 
permanent  and  productive  of  the  Dutch  colonies,  although 
there  were  such  also,  at  one  time,  in  Asia,  Africa,  and 
America.^  The  city  of  Amsterdam,  in  the  province  of 
Holland,  was  the  heart  of  the  vast  Dutch  trade,  and,  much 
like  modern  London,  performed  the  banking  business  and 
controlled  the  money  market  of  the  entire  world. 

It  was  a  tragical  fate  that  awaited  the  southern  prov- 
inces, which  had  remained  Catholic  and  had  docilely 
submitted  to  the  Spanish  tyranny.  They  had  to  pay  the 
inevitable  penalty  of  resigning  the  rights  of  manhood ; 
henceforth  their  spirit  was  broken.  Flanders  and  Brabant, 
which  had  once  been  celebrated  as  the  paradise  of  Europe, 
fell  into  decay.     The  touch  of  intolerant  Spain,  here,  as 


1  It  will  be  remembered,  for  instance,  that  the  region  of  New  York  was 
originally  settled  by  the  Dutch. 


1 8  Modern  Europe 


everywhere,  acted  like  a  blight.  It  is  a  relief  to  note  that 
The  decay  in  one  branch  of  culture,  at  least,  the  inhabitants  continued 
southern  to  distinguish  themselves.     The  names  of  the  great  paint- 

provinces.  ^^^  Rubens  (d.  1640)  and  Van  Dyck  (d.  1641)  witnessed 
that  the  old  Flemish  spirit  occasionally  stirred  in  the  tomb 
where  it  had  been  laid  by  Alva  and  Philip,  and  justified 
the  hope  that  the  future  would  perhaps  bring  with  it  a  re- 
vival of  French  greatness. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE    REFORMATION    IN    FRANCE    TO    THE    RELIGIOUS    SET- 
TLEMENTS OF   1598  (edict  of  n antes)  and   1629 

In  the  year  15 15  Francis  I.  ascended  the  French  throne. 
Ever  since  1494,  when  Charles  VIII.  had  invaded  Italy,  the 
eyes  of  French  monarchs  had  been  riveted  upon  the  penin- 
sula. They  seemed  not  to  be  able  to  give  up  the  dream  of 
the  south  v^^hich  filled  their  minds,  and  although  driven 
from  their  conquests  again  and  again,  they  always  plucked 
up  courage  to  return  to  the  attack.^  Francis,  who  was 
young  and  filled  with  knightly  ambition,  had  hardly  ac- 
quired his  crown  when  he  hurried  across  the  Alps.  At 
Marignano  (15 15)  he  won  a  splendid  victory  over  the 
Swiss  mercenaries  of  the  duke  of  Milan,  and  gained,  as  a 
result,  the  possession  of  Milan  itself.  But  the  success  natur- 
ally excited  the  jealousy  of  Spain.  As  soon  as  Charles  V.  The  rivalry  of 
had,  at  the  Diet  of  Worms  (1521),  settled  the  affairs  of  charles. 
Germany  to  his  fancy,  he  undertook  to  drive  Francis  out  of 
Milan  and  also  out  of  the  duchy  of  Burgundy,  which  he  be- 
lieved ought  to  belong  to  himself  as  heir  of  Charles  the  Bold. 
There  followed  the  long  duel  between  Francis  and  Charles, 
the  incidents  of  which  have  been  narrated  in  connection 
with  the  history  of  Germany  (Chapter  I.).  The  student 
will  remember  that  the  most  notable  events  of  the  wars  of 
these  two  monarchs  were  the  battle  of  Pavia,  where  Fran 
cis  was  captured  (1525),  and  the  sack  of  Rome  (1527). 

1  See  Introduction,  p.  20. 

119 


I20 


Modern  Europe 


The  attitude 
of  Francis 
toward  the 
Reformation. 


The  desire  for 
reform. 


To  one  overlooking  the  whole  weary  conflict  Francis's 
particular  title  to  honor  is,  that  in  spite  of  the  constant  en- 
croachments of  Charles,  and  in  spite  of  his  own  repeated 
defeats,  he  held  stubbornly  to  his  idea  of  an  independent 
and  united  France,  and  by  herculean  efforts  maintained  it 
to  his  death.  France  was  worsted  by  Spain,  but  proved 
that  she  could  be  neither  diminished  nor  annihilated. 

In  addition  to  this  matter  of  the  wars  with  Spain,  there 
are  also  to  be  considered,  in  connection  with  the  reign  of 
Francis,  the  beginnings  of  the  Reformation  in  France. 
Francis  himself  was  a  child  of  the  Renaissance,  and  prob- 
ably brought  neither  interest  nor  understanding  to  bear 
upon  the  questions  of  religious  reform.  To  his  honor  be  it 
said  that  he  had  gone  to  Italy  not  for  material  conquests 
only.  Bright-spirited  and  pleasure-loving,  he  had  become 
enamoured  of  Italian  life,  of  its  social  refinement,  of  its  lux- 
ury of  dress  and  dwelling,  of  its  literature  and  art.  It 
pleased  him  to  be  famed  as  a  magnanimous  patron,  and  he 
craved  to  become  the  friend  of  the  great  Italians  of  his 
day,  and  carry  them  all  bodily  to  his  own  France,  -in  order 
that  they  might  there  inaugurate  a  period  of  equal  artistic 
productivity.  A  man  of  such  a  temperament,  in  whom 
people  saw  the  very  embodiment  of  the  Renaissance,  would 
naturally  be  inclined  to  look  upon  religious  agitations  some- 
what ironically,  and  pass  them  by.  And  so  it  was  with 
Francis  until  he  discovered  that  the  religious  agitations 
bore  a  political  aspect,  and  involved  him  in  difficulties  with 
the  Pope  and  the  rigid  Catholic  element  of  his  people. 
Then,  however,  the  time  came  when  Francis,  probably  for 
purely  political  reasons,  abandoned  his  indifference  and 
became  a  persecutor. 

The  beginnings  of  the  Reformation  in  France  are  quite 
inde[jendent  of  Luther.     In  France,  as  elsewhere,  theJRfir-^ 
naissance  had  brought  a  desire  for  reform  of  life  in  state 


The  Reformation  in  France  121 

and  Church,  and  at  the  opening  ot  the  new  century  certain 
select  spirits  were  beginning  to  formulate  their  protests 
against  existing  conditions.  At  the  time  when  Luther 
was  stirring  up  Germany,  a  small  circle  at  Meaux,  advocat- 
ing the  simplification  of  the  Catholic  Church,  had  already 
acquired  a  considerable  influence.  This  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  among  its  patrons  was  no  less  a  person  than  the 
favorite  sister  of  Francis,  Margaret  of  Navarre. 

These  reformers  of  Meaux  were  primarily  humanists.  The  circle  of 
The  leading  figure  among  them  was  the  venerable  Lefebre.  l^Sm. 
Desirous  of  furthering  the  cause  of  right  living,  he  translated 
the  Bible  into  French,  preached  the  doctrine  of  Justifica- 
tion by  Faith,  and  taught  that  Holy  Writ  was  the  only  rule 
of  life.  All  this  associates  him  closely  with  Luther.  With- 
out attacking  the  independence  of  Lefebre' s  conclusions,  it 
may,  however,  be  asserted  that  they  would  have  been  wasted 
upon  a  restricted  circle  of  scholars,  if  Luther's  name,  which 
was  soon  fixed  upon  them,  had  not  given  them  a  reputa- 
tion. This  appears  from  the  fact  that  Lefebre  for  a  long 
time  excited  only  mild  protests;  but  hardly  had  Luther 
engaged  in  fiis^confTTct'  in  Germany  when  Lefebre  became 
^e  subject  of  fanatical  denunciation  on  the  part  of  the 
Catholics  in  France. 

From  the  very  first  the  famous  Catholic  seminary  of  Francis 
Paris,  the  Sorbonne,  which  looked  upon  itself  as  the  persecutor. 
guardian  of  the  orthodox  faith,  undertook  to  combat  the 
heretical  opinions  of  Lefebre  and  his  followers.  Neverthe- 
less, the  opposition  of  this  pedantic  institution  counted  for 
little  until  the  king  was  brought  to  its  side.  That  occurred 
after  the  battle  of  Pavia  (1525),  when  Francis  needed  the 
help  of  the  Pope  and  the  favor  of  his  Catholic  subjects  to 
recover  from  the  results  of  his  defeat  and  captivity.  The 
first  executions  of  heretics  in  France  were  ordered  at  this 
time.       Henceforward    Francis,   sometimes  under   the  in- 


122 


Modern  Europe 


The  Walden- 
siaa  massacre, 
1545- 


The  French 
Renaissance. 


Henry  II.  and 
liis  religious 
policy. 


fluence  of  his  sister  and  her  friends,  sometimes  under  that 
of  the  Sorbonne  and  its  adherents,  wavered  in  his  attitude. 
On  the  whole,  he  grew  increasingly  intolerant.^ 

The  last  years  of  the  life  of  Francis  are  sullied  by  one  of 
the  most  fearful  crimes  of  this  whole  fanatical  age.  Up  in 
the  Alps  of  Provence,  there  dwelt  a  small  sect,  called  Wal- 
denses,  who  had  maintained  a  heretical  faith  for  centuries 
before  Luthei'.  Francis  allowed  himself  to  be  terrorized 
by  the  Catholic  reactionaries  to  such  a  point  that,  in  a 
moment  of  weakness,  he  gave  orders  for  the  extermination 
of  these  poor  peasants  and  mountaineers.  The  official  re- 
port establishes,  that  three  thousand  persons  were  massacred, 
six  hundred  consigned  to  the  galleys,  and  that,  besides, 
many  children  were  sold  as  slaves  (1545). 

It  was  plain,  toward  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Francis,  that 
France  was  looking  forward  to  an  era  of  religious  conflict. 
But  happily  the  Reformation  was  only  one  aspect  of  her 
sixteentl^  century  life.  The  reign  of  Francis  was  also  the 
period  of  her  Renaissance.  Under  the  tutelage  of  this 
refined  monarch,  the  country  began  to  raise  itself  to  that 
high  social  level,  which  has  since  distinguished  its  civiliza- 
tion, and  art  and  literature  entered  upon  a  new  and  memo- 
rable era.  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  and  a 
number  of  other  Italian  artists,  brought  to  France  by  the 
king's  bounty,  gave  the  impulse  which  led  to  the  creation  of 
a  native  school  of  painting  ;  and  Rabelais,  the  great  satirist 
(d.  1553),  and  Clement  Marot,  the  poet  (d.1544),  gave 
earnest  by  their  works  of  a  new  and  more  comprehensive 
period  of  French  literature  than  any  that  had  preceded. 

The  successor  of  Francis  was  his  son,  Henry  II.  (1547- 
59).      He  was  a  different   man    from   his    affable    father, 

'  It  will  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  religious  events  of  his  reign, 
which  has  had  far-reaching  consequences,  that  Francis  banished  young 
Calvin  fronijgaris.  Chance  took  Ciilvinto  GenevaTwllcre  he  ac^Qlred 
a  much  greater  mfluence  than  he  coul3  ever"BaveTSa^  in  France. 


The  Reformation  in  France  123 

and  his  sombre  character  may  be  taken  as  an  indication  of 
the  age  of  Cathohc  fanaticism  which  was  approaching.  On 
the  day  of  his  coronation  Henry  II.  is  reported  to  have  said 
that  'Mie  would  exterminate  from  his  kingdom  all  whom 
the  Church  denounced."  If  he  did  not  succeed  in  this 
pious  enterprise  it  was  because  the  spirit  of  resistance,  ani- 
mating the  Protestants,  was  stronger  even  than  the  spirit  of 
cruelty  which  filled  the  king.     Edict  after  edict  was  hurled  / 

against  the  heretics,  and  hundreds  were  burned  here,  as  in 
the  Netherlands.  If  the  system  of  the  Inquisition  was  not 
formally  established,  France  witnessed  at  least  all  the  hor- 
rors of  the  Inquisition.  And  the  only  result  was  that  the 
faith  confirmed  by  martyrs'  blood,  struck  its  roots  into  the 
hearts  of  a  constantly  increasing  band  of  Protestant  wor- 
shippers. 

Henry  II.  inherited  from  his  father  his  enmity  against  Henry  it.  ac- 
Spain.  Although  his  religious  policy  was,  as  we  have  tiirce^bibhop- 
just  seen,  violently  orthodox,  Henry  II.  could  on  occasion  "^^• 
subordinate  his  Catholic  aspirations  to  the  political  neces- 
sities of  his  position.  The  danger  from  Spain,  therefore, 
induced  him,  after  a  little  scrupulous  hesitation,  to  ally 
himself  with  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany.  When 
Maurice  of  Saxony,  in  behalf  of  the  German  Protestants, 
attacked  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  (1552),  Henry  II.,  in 
order  to  support  Maurice's  action,  suddenly  invaded  Ger- 
many and  occupied  the  three  western  bishoprics,  Metz, 
Toul,  and  Verdun.  Charles,  having  bought  his  peace  at 
home  by  concessions  to  the  Protestants  (Peace  of  Augs- 
burg), tried  to  drive  Henry  out  again,  but  failed ;  the 
bishoprics  remained  in  the  possession  of  France.  The 
episode  is  interesting,  as  the  first  in  modern  times  of  those 
territorial  disputes  between  France  and  Germany,  which 
have  continued  through  centuries  and  are  still  a  burning 
question  of  Europe  at  this  day. 


124 


Modern  Europe 


War  between 
Philip  II.  and 
Henry  II. 


^ 


The  Peace  of 
Cateau- 
Cambresis, 
1559- 


The 

Huguenots 
begin  to  take  a 
hand  in  poH- 
tics. 


Although  the  capture  of  the  three  bishoprics  injured 
Germany,  it  was  really  an  episode  of  the  long  wars  be- 
tween France  and  Spain.  When  Philip  succeeded  his 
father  (1555),  the  contest  between  the  two  countries  was 
resumed  with  new  vigor,  until  the  great  Spanish  victories 
of  St.  Quentin  and  Gravelines  in  the  Netherlands  brought 
about  the  Peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  (1559).  This  peace 
settled  all  the  territorial  questions  in  favor  of  Spain,  and 
left  her  undisputed  mistress  in  Italy  and  in  the  Netherlands. 
But  although  France  had  been  once  more  defeated,  she 
managed  to  indemnify  herself  at  the  expense  of  another 
power.  By  the  marriage  of  Philip  II.  to  Mary  Tudor, 
Spain  had  secured  the  alliance  of  England  in  the  late  war. 
In  the  year  1558,  the  French  duke  of  Guise  suddenly  fell 
upon  Calais,  the  last  English  possession  upon  the  Continent, 
and  by  its  capture  completely  obliterated  the  material  con- 
sequences of  the  Hundred  Years'  War  between  France  and 
England.  In  the  sumptuous  celebrations  which  followed 
the  Peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis,  Henry  II.  was,  during  a 
tournament,  wounded  in  the  eye,  and  shortly  after  expired 

(1559)- 

Until  this  time  the  Protestants  of  France  had  suffered 
their  persecutions  in  patience.  They  had  not  preached  re- 
volt nor  sought  political  influence.  But  from  the  mere 
religious  sect  they  had  been,  they  now  advanced  to  the 
role  of  a  political  party.  The  change  certainly  detracted 
from  their  dignity  and  purity,  but  was,  as  the  history  of 
Protestantism  in  Germany,  England,  and  everywhere 
proves,  inseparable  from  the  aims  of  the  movement.  Prot- 
estantism, although  primarily  a  faith,  affected  the  state  in 
certain  important  respects  and,  therefore,  by  or  against  its 
will,  had  to  develop  a  political  programme.  Happy  may 
those  countries  be  called,  in  which  the  political  programme 
did  not  completely  bury  the  original  notion  of  a  religious 


The  Reformation  in  France  125 

re-birth !  France  is  not  to  be  counted  among  them. 
Although  Huguenotism,!  as  Protestantism  was  called  in 
France,  always  mustered  a  body  of  serious  reformers  and 
enthusiastic  Christians,  it  was,  before  long,  employed  by 
ambitious  men  as  a  cloak,  beneath  which  to  mature  with 
impunity  their  political  revolutions.  This  dangerous  de- 
velopment of  Protestantism  in  France  was  due,  in  large 
measure,  to  the  confusion  which  followed  the  un«xpected 
demise  of  King  Henry  II. 

At  the  death  of  Henry,  his  son,  Francis  II.  who  was  Francis  II. 
but  sixteen  years  old,  and  physically  and  mentally  feeble, 
succeeded  to  the  throne.  When  the  power  in  an  absolute 
monarchy,  such  as  France  practically  was  at  this  time,  is 
not  exercised  by  the  sovereign,  it  is  inevitably  snatched 
up  by  some  court  faction.  The  situation  at  court, 
therefore,  on  the  accession  of  Francis,  has  an  unusual  in- 
terest. 

The  wife  of  the  feeble  Francis  was  Mary,  Queen  of  The  Guises. 
Scots.  Although  a  woman  of  rare  gifts,  she  was  too  young 
at  this  time  to  assume  control,  and  thus  it  happened  that 
the  power  fell  into  the  hands  of  her  French  relatives — her 
mother's  two  brothers,  of  the  family  of  Guise.  The  older, 
Francis,  the  duke  of  Guise,  received  the  command  of 
the  army ;  the  younger,  a  cardinal  of  the  Roman  Church, 
undertook  the  control  of  the  government.  Both  were 
ardent  Catholics,  attached  with  heart  and  soul  to  Rome 
and  Spain. 

There  were  those,  however,  who  believed  that  their  own  The  queen- 
rights  were   infringed    upon    by    this   usurpation    of   the   arinede' 
Guises.     First  to  consider,  is  the  mother  of  Francis  II.,   M^^^^i- 
Catharine  de'  Medici.     She  was  an  Italian  of  the  famous. 


^  The  terms  Huguenotism  and  Huguenots  were  probably  first  apphed 
in  derision  to  the  French  heresy  and  heretics.  Neither  origin  nor  mean- 
ing have  been  explained  satisfactorily. 


126  Modern  Europe  ^ 

and  by  virtue  of  certain  representatives,  also  infamous 
family,  which  had  risen  to  sovereignty  in  Florence.  To 
an  inordinate  ambition  she  added  some  of  the  charac- 
teristic qualities  of  her  nation,  a  rapid  intelligence,  dip- 
lomatic skill,  and  entire  unscrupulousness.  Although  her 
name  has  become  a  designation  for  everything  that  is 
vicious  in  civil  and  rehgious  war,  it  is  now  established 
beyond  doubt,  that  she  was  not  a  Catholic  fanatic,  and 
that,  if  she  became  a  persecutor,  it  was  primarily  because 
the  persecution  served  some  political  end.  Certainly 
her  contemporaries  were  not  in  the  habit  of  thinking  her 
worse  than  her  environment.  While  this  fact  does  not 
prove  anything  in  her  favor,  it  ought  to  disincline  us  to  see 
in  her  nothing  but  the  vampire  which  ultra-Protestant 
writers  have  persistently  contended  that  she  was. 
The  House  of  For  the  present,  the  mother  of  the  king  had  nothing  to 
ihc"suppon^ot  say,  and  brooded  over  her  wrongs  in  silence.  The  active 
the  Hugue-  opposition  to  the  Guises  came  from  another  quarter — from 
a  collateral  branch  of  the  royal  family,  the  House  of  Bour- 
bon. The  leading  members  of  this  House  were  Antoine, 
king  of  Navarre,  and  Louis,  prince  of  Conde.  Antoine  had, 
by  his  lucky  marriage  with  the  heiress  to  the  small  king- 
dom of  Navarre,  on  the  border  between  France  and  Spain, 
acquired,  if  not  much  power,  at  least  some  dignity.  In 
his  capacity  as  head  of  the  younger  branch  of  the  ruling 
House,  he  was  prepared  to  insist  that  an  important  place  be 
ceded  to  him  in  the  council  of  state.  His  brother,  Conde, 
supported  him  in  his  ambition,  and  both  were  soon  sur- 
rounded by  a  considerable  body  of  ''malcontents — " 
nobles,  for  the  most  part,  who  had  been  excluded  from 
the  honors  and  emoluments,  and  whose  controlling  idea 
seemed  to  be,  that  anything  was  permissible  which  tended 
to  overthrow  the  usurping  Guises.  Now  among  the  enemies 
of  the  Guises,  who  were  a  fanatically  Catholic  family,  were 


nots. 


The  Reformation  in  France  127 

also  the  persecuted  Huguenots,  and  out  of  the  common  ha- 
tred of  Protestants  and  malcontents,  there  grew,  before 
long,  an  intimacy  and  an  alliance.  Antoine,  in  a  faith- 
less, vacillating  spirit,  Conde,  more  firmly,  accepted  the 
Reformed  faith ;  and  many  of  their  aristocratic  supporters 
following  their  example,  it  came  to  pass,  that  Protestant- 
ism in  France  was  gradually  diluted  and  befouled  with 
political  intrigue. 

Of  all  these  high-stationed  Huguenots,  the  one  man  who 
has  won  the  respect  of  friend  and  foe  is  Gaspard  de  Coiigny. 
CoHgny.  He  was  related  to  the  great  family  5f  Mont-  ^"^^ 
"TTTOfency,  and  bore  the  dignity  of  admiral  of  France. 
Though  he  was  not  without  political  ambition,  he  merits 
the  high  praise  of  having  been  a  man  to  whom  his  faith  was 
a  thing  not  to  be  bought  and  sold,  and  of  having  served  it 
with  single-mindedness  to  his  death. 

Out  of  these  relations  of  the  factions  around  the  throne, 
grew  the  intrigues  which  led  to  the  long  religious  wars  in 
France.  It  is  useless  to  try  to  put  the  blame  for  them  upon 
one  or  the  other  side.  Given  a  weakened  rojal  executive ; 
the  implacable  religious  temper  which  marks  the  society  of 
the  sixteenth  century ;  and  a  horde  of  powerful,  turbulent, 
and  greedy  nobles,  and  civil  war  is  a  necessary  consequence. 
We  can  notice  only  the  more  prominent  symptoms  of  the 
coming  outbreak.  In  the  year  1560  there  was  organized, 
with  the  connivance  of  the  Bourbon  princes,  the  vast  Con-  The  Conspira- 
spiracy  of  Amboise,  which  planned  to  make  an  end  of  the  ^y^^^^'^o'^*^ • 
Guises.  It  was  discovered  and  a  fearful  vengeance  taken. 
Whoever  excited  suspicion  was  arrested  and  without  a  trial 
hung  to  the  castle-roof  of  Amboise  or  drowned  in  the 
Loire. 

Shortly  after,  Francis  II.  died  (December,  1560).     His      r\  ^jJ^'^ 
widow  Mary,  finding  her  role  in  France  exhausted,  there-      ""    ^y^ 
upon  left  for  Scotland,  and  the  Guises,  who  had  held  the 


128  Modern  Europe 

power  largely  through  her,  suddenly  found  that  their  ty- 
ranny had  come  to  an  end.  The  successor  of  Francis  was 
his  brother  Charles  IX.,  a  weak  boy  but  ten  years  old, 
Catharine  be-  during  whose  minority,  custom  called  for  a  regency  under 
comes  regen.  ^^  quecn-mother.  Catharine  de'  Medici,  therefore,  at  a 
stroke  realized  her  ambition.  But  her  new  position  was 
far  from  easy,  as  Guises  and  Bourbons  alike  watched  her  with 
jealousy.  She  resolved,  therefore,  with  much  moderation, 
upon  a  policy  of  balance  between  the  hostile  factions ;  called 
representatives  of  both  into  her  council ;  and  published  a 
succession  of  edicts,  securing  to  the  Huguenots  a  limited 
toleration.  It  was  the  first  effort  of  the  kind  that  had  been 
made  in  France  to  settle  the  religious  difficulties.  Its  end- 
ing in  failure  proved  again,  if  proof  were  necessary,  that 
no  compromise  could  satisfy  men  who,  like  the  Protestants 
and  Catholics  of  the  sixteenth  century,  were  passionately 
set  on  realizing  their  own  ideas  without  the  abatement  of 
a  jot  or  tittle.  While  the  Catholics  were  embittered  by 
the  extent  of  Catharine's  concessions,  the  Protestants 
grumbled  at  the  remaining  limitations,  and  among  the 
more  fanatical  followers  of  the  two  parties,  sometimes  with- 
out provocation,  there  occurred  sharp  conflicts,  frequently 
ending  in  terrible  excesses. 
The  Massacre  One  of  these  conflicts,  the  Massacre  of  Vassy  (1562),  put 
^^^'  an  end  to  hesitation  and  led  to  war.     The  duke  of  Guise 

was  passing  through  the  country  with  a  company  of  armed 
retainers,  when  he  happened,  near  Vassy,  upon  a  band  of 
Huguenots,  assembled  in  a  barn  for  worship.  Sharp  words 
led  to  an  encounter,  and  before  the  duke  rode  away,  forty 
Protestants  lay  dead  upon  the  ground  and  many  more  had 
Been  wounded.  A  fearful  indignation  seized  their  brothers 
in  The  faith,  and  when  the  duke  of  Guise  was  not  imme- 
diately called  to  account  by  Catharine,  Conde_and  Coligny 
armed  and  took  the  field. 


The  Reformation  in  France  129 

Thus  were  inaugurated  the  religious  wars  of  France, 
which  were  not  brought  to  a  conclusion  until  1598,  by  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  and  which  in  their  consequences  contin-  Character  of 
ued  to  trouble  the  country  well  into  the  next  century.  For 
our  purpose  it  is  sufficient  to  look  upon  the  period  from 
1562  to  1598  as  one  war,  though  it  is  true  that  there  were 
frequent  suspensions  of  arms,  supporting  themselves  upon 
sham  truces  and  dishonest  treaties. ^  The  war,  like  all 
the  religious  wars  of  the  century,  was  waged  with  inhuman 
barbarity,  and  conflagrations,  pillagings,  massacres^  and 
assassinations  blot  every  stage  of  its  progress.  Protestants 
Tnd  Catholics  became  brutes  alike,  and  vied  with  each 
other  in  their  efforts  to  turn  their  country  into  a  desert. 

When  the  Treaty  of  St.  Germain  (1570),  granting  the  The  Peace  of 
Protestants  the  largest  toleration  which  they  had  yet  en-  " 
joyed,  temporarily  closed  the  chapter  of  conflicts,  many  of 
the  original  leaders  had  passed  away.  Antoine  of  Navarre 
had  been  killed  in  battle  against  his  former  friends,  the  Hu- 
guenots, whom  he  had  treacherously  deserted  (1562)  ;  the 
duke  of  Guise  had  been  assassinated  (1563);  and  Conde 
had  been  unfairly  slain  in  a  charge  of  horse  (1569).  The 
head  of  the  Huguenot  party  was  now  Antoine's  young 
son.  King  Henry  of  Navarre,  but  the  intellectual  leader- 
ship fell,  for  the  present,  upon  Coligny. 

Meanwhile,  a  moderate  party  had   formed  in  France,    Growth  of  a 
which  tried  to  make  the  Peace  of  St.  Germain  the  begin-   j^y,  ^^^^  ^^' 
ning  of  a  definite  settlement.     It  was  only  too  clear  that 
the    bloodshed    which    was   draining    the    country  of  its 
strength,  ruined  both  parties  and  brought  profit  to  none  but 
the  enemies  of  France.    The  more  temperate  of  both  sides. 


'  Eight  wars  have  been  distinguished  as  follows  :  First  war,  1562-63 ; 
second  war,  1567-68  ;  third  war,  1568-70  (ended  by  the  peace  of  St.  Ger- 
main) ;  fourth  war,  1572-73  ;  fifth  war,  1574-76  ;  sixth  war,  1577  ;  seventh 
war,  1579-80;  eighth  war  (called  the  War  of  the  three  Henries)  1585-89, 
which  continued  in  another  form  until  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1598). 


I30 


Modern  Europe 


The  wedding 
of  Henry  of 
Navarre  and 
Margaret  of 
Valois, 


The  alh'ance  of 
Catharine  and 
the  Guises 
against  Colig- 
ny. 


Coligny  prominent  among  them,  began  to  see  the  folly  of 
the  struggle,  and  King  Charles  himself,  who  was  now  of  age, 
inclined  to  their  view.  And  yet  such  were  the  mutual  sus- 
picions and  animosities,  that  the  effort  to  remove  all  cause 
of  quarrel  precipitated  the  most  horrible  of  all  the  incidents 
of  the  war,  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

After  the  Peace  of  St.  Germain,  Coligny  had  come  up 
to  Paris  and  had  rapidly  acquired  a  great  influence  with  the 
king.  The  young  monarch  seemed  to  be  agreed  to  put  an 
end  for  all  time  to  internal  dissension,  and  to  turn  the 
strength  of  the  united  country  against  the  old  enemy  of 
France,  Spain.  For  this  purpose  he  arranged,  as  a  prelim- 
inary step,  a  rnarriage^between  his  sister  Margaret  and 
young  Henry  of  Navarre.  Joyfully  responding  to  the  in- 
vitation of  King  Charles,  the  Huguenots  poured  in  swarms 
into  Paris  to  attend  the  wedding  of  their  chief,  which  was 
celebrated  on  August  i8,  1572. 

The  wedding  seemed  to  inaugurate  an  era  of  Protestant 
triumphs.  Coligny's  star,  shedding  the  promise  of  tolera- 
tion, was  rising  steadily ;  that  of  the  Guises  and  their  ul- 
tra-Catholic supporters,  standing  for  the  principle  of  no- 
compromise,  was  as  steadily  setting.  But  suddenly  the 
orthodox  party,  which,  seeing  ruin  ahead  of  it,  had  fallen 
into  a  desperate  mood,  ready  for  any  undertaking,  received 
an  unexpected  addition.  Catharine  de*  Medici,  originally 
hardly  more  attached  to  the  Guises  than  to  the  Huguenots, 
because  primarily  solicitous  only  about  her  own  power,  had 
lately  lost  all  influence  with  the  king.  She  knew  well 
whither  it  had  gone  and  fixed  the  hatred  of  a  revengeful 
and  passionate  nature  upon  Coligny.  Burning  to  regain 
her  power  she  now  put  herself  in  communication  with  the 
Guises.  On  August  2  2d,  as  Coligny  was  entering  his 
house,  a  ball,  meant  for  his  breast,  struck  him  in  the  arm. 
The  king,   who  hurried   in  alarm   to   the  bedside  of  his 


The  Reformation  in  France  131 

councillor,  was  filled  with  indignation,  and  swore  to  take  a 
summary  revenge  upon  the  assassin  and  his  accomplices. 

The  terror  of  discovery  and  punishment,  which  now 
racked  Catharine  and  the  Guises,  drove  them  to  devise 
some  means  by  which  they  might  deflect  the  king's 
vengeance.  On  the  spur  of  the  moment,  as  it  were,  The  Massacre 
they  planned  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  This  fa-  Jhoiomew. 
mous  massacre  is,  therefore,  not  to  be  considered,  as  was  '572. 
once  the  custom,  the  carefully  laid  plot  of  the  Catholic 
heads  of  Europe,  but  rather  as  the  bloodthirsty  improvisa- 
tion of  a  desperate  band.  Catharine  de'  Medici  and  the 
Guises  were  its  authors,  and  the  fervidly  Catholic  population 
of  Paris  was  the  instrument  of  their  will.  How  the  king's 
consent  was  got,  when  all  was  ready,  would  be  difficult  to 
understand,  if  we  did  not  know  that  he  was  weak  and 
cowardly,  and  ready  for  any  measure  when  hoodwinked 
and  terrorized.  On  St.  Bartholomew's  day  (August  24th), 
a  little  past  midnight,  the  tocsin  was  sounded  from  the 
churches  of  Paris.  At  the  signal,  the  Catholic  citizens 
slipped  noiselessly  from  their  houses,  and  surrounded  the 
residences  which  had  been  previously  designated  by  a 
chalk  mark  as  the  homes  of  Huguenots.  Coligny  was  one 
of  the  first  victims  of  the  ensuing  fury,  Henry  of  Guise  him- 
self presiding  at  the  butchery  of  his  Huguenot  rival.  That 
night  the  streets  flowed  with  blood,  and  for  many  days 
after,  the  provinces,  incited  by  the  example  of  the  capital, 
indulged  themselves  in  similar  ' '  bloody  marriages.' '  Henry 
of  Navarre  escaped  death  only  by  temporarily  renouncing 
his  faith.  The  victims  of  this  fearful  exhibition  of  fanati- 
cism amounted  to  2,000  in  Paris,  and  6,000  to  8,000^  in  the 
rest  of  France.  We  are  helped  in  understanding  the  spirit 
of  the  time  when  we  hear  that  the  Catholic  world,  the 


1  These  are  the  figures  given  by  modern  historians.     Old  writers  used 
to  speak  glibly  of  fifty  thousand  'and  more. 


132 


Modern  Europe 


Henry  III., 
1574-89- 


Prospect  of 
the  succession 
of  Henry  of 
Navarre. 


The  war  of 
the  Three 
Henries. 


Pope  and  Philip  of  Spain  at  its  head,  made  no  effort  to 
conceal  its  dehght  at  this  facile  method  of  getting  rid  of 
adversaries. 

War  with  all  its  dreary  incidents  straightway  flamed  up 
again.  In  1574  Charles  IX.  died,  out  of  remorse,  as  the 
Huguenots  were  fain  to  believe,  for  his  share  in  the  great 
crime  of  St.  Bartholomew.  His  brother,  Henry  III.,  suc- 
ceeded him  on  the  throne.  A  new  element  of  interest  was 
introduced  into  the  struggle  only  when  the  death  of  Henry's 
last  brother,  the  duke  of  Alengon,  and  his  own  failure  to 
have  heirs,  involved,  with  the  religious  question,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  succession. 

By  the  law  of  the  realm  the  crown  would  have  to  pass 
upon  Henry's  death  to  the  nearest  male  relative,  who  was 
Henry  of  Navarre,  head  of  the  collateral  branch  of  Bourbon. 
But  Henry  was  a  Huguenot,  the  enemy  of  the  faith  of  the 
vast  majority  of  his  future  subjects.  EveiTbefore"  his  suc- 
cession appeared  probable,  Henry  of  Guise  and  his  followers 
had  formed  the  Holy  League,  which  pledged  itself  to  the 
interests  of  the  Church,  even  against  the  king.  As  the 
Holy  League  satisfied  the  current  fanaticism  of  the  day,  it 
became  the  rally ing-point  of  Catholic  France,  and  before 
long,  Henry  III.  found  at  his  side  a  man  more  really  king 
than  himself — his  former  friend  and  present  head  of  the 
League,  Henry  of  Guise.  In  measure  as  he  tried  to  live 
up  to  his  royal  duty  of  mediating  between  the  contending 
factions  and  establishing  peace,  he  found  himself  deserted 
by  the  League,  which  would  have  no  peace.  France  was,  in 
consequence,  soon  divided  into  three  camps,  the  ultras  of 
the  two  religious  parties,  headed  respectively  by  Henry  of 
Guise  and  Henry  of  Navarre,  and  between  them  the  party 
of  the  moderates  (politiques),  headed  by  King  Henry. 

There  follows  the  phase  of  the  struggle  known  as  the  war 
of  the  Three  Henries  (1585-89),  which  steeped  the  country 


The  Reformation  in  France  133 

in  such  confusion  that  men  soon  indulged  in  every  form  of 
lawlessness  without  punishment.  In  December,  1588,  King 
yO^  Henry,  who  had  tried  all  possible  shifts  to  secure  peace, 
even  to  the  point  of  resigning  the  real  power  into  the  hands 
of  the  head  of  the  League,  indignantly  resolved  to  put  an 
end  to  his  humiliation.  He  invited  Henry  of  Guise  to  his 
cabinet,  and  there  had  him  treacherously  dispatched  by  his 
guard.  But  the  League  now  turned  in  horror  from  the 
murderer,  and  Paris  and  Catholic  France  declared  for  his 
deposition.  In  his  despair  the  king  fled  to  Henry  of  Na- 
varre, and  was  just  about  to  advance  with  his  Huguenot  sub- 
jects upon  his  capital,  when  a  fanatical  Dominican  monk 
forced  admission  to  his  presence  and  killed  him  with  a  knife 
(August,  1589).  Thus  the  House  of  Valois  had  come  to 
an  end.  The  question  was  now  simply  between  Henry  of 
Navarre,  the  rightful  claimant  to  the  crown,  and  the 
League,  who  would  have  none  of  him. 

The  new  Henry,  Henry  JV.,  first  king  of  the  House  of  Henry  iv. 
Bourbon,  was  a  bnaye. soldier,  an  intelligent  ruler,  and  an   League, 
^f^ble  gentleman.     He  was  the  idol  of  his  followers,  but 
his   followers  were  only  a  small  part  of  France.     The  at- 
tachment of  the  Catholic  majority  he  knew  could  only  be 
won  slowly,  and   certainly  not  by  force.     Therefore,  he 
undertook  with  wisdom  and  patience  to  assure  them  of  the 
loyalty  of  his  intentions  and  win  their  recognition.     If  the 
League   could  only  have   found  a  plausible  rival  for  the 
throne,  Henry  might  have  been  annihilated  ;  but  his  claim 
was  incontrovertible,  and  that  was  his  strength.     FoTlhe" 
present  no  one  thought  of  disarming.      Henry  won  a  num- 
ber of  engagements,  notably  the  battle  of  Ivry  (1590),  but 
the   League,  supported  by  Philip  of  Spain,  could  not  be 
scattered. 

At  last   Henry,  weary  of  the  interminable  struggle,  re-    Henry  abjures,^ 
solved  to  take  a  decisive  step.      He  abjured  his  faith  and    ^^[^^f^tantism^ 


134  Modern  Europe 


begged  to  be  readmitted  into  the  Catholic  Church  (1593). 
His  calculation  of  the  consequences  of  this  measure  proved 
to  be  correct.  He  was  almost  immediately  recognized 
throughout  France,  the  League  fell  apart,  and  the  war 
ceased.  In  February,  1594,  he  was  solemnly  crowned  at 
Chartres,  and  in  March  he  took  possession  of  his  capital 
amidst  the  unbounded  rejoicings  of  those  same  Parisians, 
who  had  clamored  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day  for  his  head. 
Opinion  has  always  been  much  divided  on  Henry's  con- 
version.    But  there  is  no  necessity  for  lingering  over  it 

Henry's  justi-  long.  It  was  purely  a  political  measure,  and  a  well-calcu- 
lated one  as  the  result  shows,  and  though  Henry  professed 
before  the  priest  that  the  change  was  with  him  a  matter  of 
conscience,  we  know  that  the  conversion  sat  lightly  upon 
him.  **  Paris  is  well  worth  a  mass,"  was  all  the  comment 
he  offered  his  friends  to  explain  his  defection.  Joyful, 
sensual  spirits,  such  as  Henry,  are  usually  not  overbur- 
^  dened  with  annoying  religious  convictions.     His  Protest- 

antism had  been  a  matter  of  birth  and  custom,  and  his 
Catholicism  did  not  pierce  an  inch  deeper.  Under  these 
circumstances,  since  his  Protestantism  arwi  his  Catholicism 
were  morally  of  equal  value,  it  was  perhaps  a  wholly  wise 
thing  to  drop  the  religious  pretence,  which  alone  separated 
his  country  from  a  desired  peace. 

The  first  important  business  of  the  recognized  king  was  to 
secure  his  country  the  benefit  of  a  permanent  religious  pacifi- 

The  Edict  of  cation.  The  edict  which  was  intended  to  establish  it,  was 
an  es,  159  .  pu^^iighed  at  Nantes,  April,  1598.  Although  it  was  not  a 
decree  of  toleration  such  as  satisfies  our  modern  feeling, 
it  was  the  best  the  time  could  afford.  It  gave  the  great 
nobles  and  the  citizens,  in  a  certain  number  of  specified 
cities,  permission  to  establish  the  Protestant  worship,  but 
it  rigorously  excluded  that  worship  from  all  episcopal  cities 
and  from  Paris.     Furthermore,  the  Edict  of  Nantes  placed 


The  Reformation  in  France  135 

the  Huguenots  on  a  level  with  the  Catholics  before  the  law ; 
and  finally,  to  reassure  them,  and  as  a  kind  of  guarantee 
of  its  promises,  made  over  to  them  a  number  of  fortified 
towns,  of  which  La  Rochelle  was  the  most  important.  It 
was  this  last  measure  that  later  caused  a  renewal  of  the 
civil  war,  for  it  was  a  dangerous  concession  and  made  the 
Huguenots  an  independent  armed  power  within  the  state. 

In  the  same  year  (1598)  Henry  closed  the  war  with 
Spain,  due  to  Spanish  interference  in  behalf  of  the  League. 
Though  he  was  not  unwilling  to  proceed  against  his  med- 
dHng  neighbor  with  all  vigor,  he  saw  that  his  country  was 
for  the  present  in  no  condition  for  foreign  conquest,  and 
that  he  would  better  reserve  his  strength  for  the  future.  So  Henry  ends 
he  signed  the  Peace  of  Vervins  (1598)  on  the  basis  of  mu-  whh ^SpaTn,'^ 
tual  restitutions.  ^598. 

Now  that  France  was  at  peace   within    and    without, 
Henry  seriously  set  about  the  task  of  building  up  again  his 
ruined  country.     With  the  aid  of  his  Protestant  minister,    internal  gov- 
the  duke  of  Sully,  he  re-established  the  finances,  and  ad-   Henry"and 
vanced  commerce  and  industry.     The  administration   of  ^^^^y- 
Sully  covered  France  with  good  highways,  laid  out  canals, 
introduced  many  new  branches  of  industry,  and  even  made 
attempts  to  plant  colonies  in  the  New  World,  notably  in 
Canada. 

When,  after  years  of  labor,  Henry  saw  himself  in  posses- 
sion of  an  ordered  and  flourishing  commonwealth,  he  be- 
gan again  to  turn  his  attention  to  foreign   affairs.     The   Henry  plans  to 
House  of  Hapsburg,  governing  through  its  two  branches   House' of 
the  dominions  of  Spain  and  of  Austria,  was  still  to  his  mind    Hapsburg. 
the  great  enemy  of  France.     That  France  and  the  House  of 
Bourbon  must  grow  at  the  expense  of  Spain  and  the  House 
of  Hapsburg  became  Henry's  fixed  resolution.     In  1610,  a 
local  quarrel  in   Germany  was  just  about  to  furnish  him 
with  a  desired  pretext  to  interfere  against  the  Hapsburgs,. 


136  Modern  Europe 


when  he  was  killed  by  the  dagger  of  a  half-insane  Catholic 
^  u/  fanatic,   named  Ravaillac.      To    this  day    ''  Good    King 

\  "      1         V        Henry  "  is  dear  to  the  French  people,  and  his  popularity 
1  /qA  ft  U^^^^^^Njias  never  been  eclipsed  by  that  of  any  of  his  successors. 
O^^  At  Henry's  death  his  son  Louis  XIII.  (1610-43)  was  but 

The  regency  nine  years  old.  A  regency  had  therefore  to  be  set  up  under 
Medici!^  ^  Louis's  mother,  Marie  de'  Medici,  whom  Henry  IV.  had 
married,  upon  the  grant  of  a  divorce  from  his  first  wife, 
Margaret  of  Valois.  Marie,  an  Italian  of  the  same  House 
as  the  former  regent,  Catharine  de'  Medici,  was  a  weak 
woman  without  talents  of  any  kind.  The  sovereign 
power  was,  therefore,  soon  in  a  bad  way.  Favorites 
exercised  the  control,  and  the  turbulent  nobility,  which 
had  been  repressed  by  the  firm  hand  of  Henry  IV.,  began 
again,  as  at  the  time  of  Francis  II.  and  Charles  IX.,  to 
aspire  to  political  importance.  Among  these  nobles  the 
Huguenot  aristocracy,  who  had  been  permitted  by  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  to  keep  up  an  army  and  several  fortified 
places,  assumed  an  especially  threatening  tone,  and  judg- 
ing from  the  confusion  which  followed  Marie's  assumption 
of  power,  it  seemed  more  than  likely  that  France  was  drift- 
ing into  another  era  of  civil  war. 
The  advent  of       If  France  was  saved  from  this  calamity,  it  was  due,  and 

■ — '         solely  due,  to  one  man,  Arman^Jean^duJPl^sis,  known  as 

Cardinal  Richelieu.  When  he  entered  the  royal  council, 
to  become  almost  immediately,  by  the  natural  ascendency 
of  his  intellect,  first  minister  (1624),  the  queen-regent  had 
already  been  supplanted  by  the  king;  but  under  the  king, 
who  had  much  more  of  his  mother  in  him  than  of  his 
father,  and  was  slothful  and  unintelligent,  the  affairs  of  the 
realm  had  not  been  in  the  least  improved.  Richelieu, 
therefore,  found  himself  confronted  by  a  heavy  task.  But 
his  unique  position  proved  a  help  to  him  ifi  fulfilling  it. 
Having  entered  the  Church,  his  talent  had  been  so  far  rec- 


The  Reformation  in  France 


137 


gramme. 


ognized  that  he  was  appointed  cardinal  in  1622,  and  from 
the  shelter  which  his  ecclesiastical  dignity  afforded  him,  he 
was  able  to  deliver  with  impunity  many  a  blow  which  would 
otherwise  have  cost  him  his  life.  The  extraordinary 
power  which  he  wielded  for  eighteen  years  (1624-42)  to 
his  death,  and  which  completely  obliterated  the  king, 
might  in  the  hands  of  a  less  conscientious  man  have  degen- 
erated into  the  most  repulsive  tyranny  ;  but  Richelieu,  on 
the  whole,  put  it  at  the  service  of  an  enlightened  patriot- 
ism. He  set  himself  two  aims  ;  the  first,  to  strengthen  the  His  pro- 
moiiarchy  within,  for  which  purpose  he  must  break  the 
power  of  the  nobility,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant ;  the 
second,  to  enlarge  the  monarchy  without,  in  pursuance  of 
which  end  he  must  renew  the  wars  with  his  country's  old 
rival,  Spain  and  the  House  of  Hapsburg. 

The  power  of  the  Catholic  nobility  Richelieu  did  not 
break  without  resistance.  But  the  banishment  of  the 
king's  worthless  brother  Gaston,  the  duke  of  Orleans,  and 
the  execution  of  a  number  of  high-born  plotters,  who  fan- 
cied that  their  names  were  a  protection  against  punishment, 
gradually  enforced  obedience. 

Far  more  serious  was  the  case  of  the  rebellious  Hugue- 
nots. They  had  been  involved  in  the  various  desultory 
insurrections  during  the  regency  of  Marie  de'  Medici,  and 
their  action  was  so  much  the  more  dangerous,  as  they  were 
legally  provided  with  the  means  of  warfare — an  army  and 
fortified  towns.  It  had  become  perfectly  palpable  by  this 
time,  that  the  Huguenots,  if  they  were  a  religious  sect,  were 
also  a  political  party,  equipped  with  a  power  that  could 
make  them,  at  need,  independent  of  the  government.  This 
state  within  the  state,  Richeheu  was  resolved  to  put  an  end 
to.  He  did  not  argue  in  the  least  Hke  a  fanatic.  In  fact, 
although  a  cardinal  of  the  Catholic  Church,  he  clearly 
made  the  distinction  between  religion  and  politics,  and  an- 


Res'sts  the 
nobility. 


Resists  the 
Huguenots. 


138 


Modern  Europe 


Siege  of 
La  Rochelle. 


Peace  with  the 

Huguenots, 

1629. 


RicheHeu 
plans  to 
humiliate 
Spain. 


He  interferes 
in  the  Thirty 
Years'  War. 


nounced,  in  taking  up  arms  against  the  Huguenots,  that  the 
quarrel  was  not  with  their  faith,  but  only  with  their  politi- 
cal privileges.  The  campaign  against  the  Protestants  in 
which  he  now  engaged  was  rapid  and  successful.  Its  one 
memorable  feat  was  the  siege  of  La  Rochelle,  on  the  west- 
ern coast — a  siege  in  which  Richelieu  himself  took  the  com- 
mand, and  which  was  heroically  sustained  by  the  Rochel- 
lese,  ineffectually  aided  by  their  English  ally,  Charles  I. 
When  La  Rochelle  fell  (1628),  the  Huguenots  were  at  the 
cardinal's  mercy.  That  in  those  embittered  and  intolerant 
times  he  remained  true  to  his  best  convictions  compels  our 
respect.  Richelieu,  Jhechurchrnan,  made  himself  the  first 
great  practical  exponent  of  our  modern  conceptionof  tole- 
ration.  He  signed  a  peace  with  the  Rochellese,  and  later 
with  the  other  Huguenots,  in  which  he  secured  them  all 
the  privileges  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  barring  the  excep- 
tional  political  power. 

For  the  present,  the  troubles  of  France  were  ended  and 
all  classes  brought  under  the  law  of  the  king.  The  coun- 
try was  in  the  same  tranquil  condition  as  under  Henry  IV., 
and  like  Henry  IV.  Richelieu  could  now  afford  to  interest 
himself  in  European  affairs.  He  could,  in  other  words,  ex- 
ecute the  setond  part  of  his  political  programme,  which  was 
the  humiliation  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg. 

It  was  a  most  convenient  circumstance  that  Germany 
was  at  this  time  convulsed  by  her  great  Thirty  Years'  War. 
With  the  instinct  of  the  statesman,  Richelieu  felt  that  if  he 
helped  the  Protestants  there  against  the  Catholics,  repre- 
sented by  the  Emperor  and  by  Spain,  he  would  sooner  or 
later  acquire  some  permanent  advantages  for  France.  His 
gradual  interference  which  proceeded  from  subsidies  of 
money  in  Germany  and  light  campaigns  in  Italy,  to  the 
recruitment  of  large  armies,  finally  secured  his  king  the 
balance  of  power  in  the  German  war,  and  made  France 


The  Reformation  in  France  139 

practical  dictator  of  Europe  when  the  Peace  of  Westphaha 
(1648)  ended  the  struggle.  Richelieu  did  not  live  to  see 
this  result  (he  died  1642),  but  the  advantage  which  France 
secured  on  that  occasion  may  be  written  down  to  his 
statesmanlike  conduct  of  the  government. 

Richelieu  is  sometimes  called  the  creator  of  the  absolute  Richelieu 
monarchy  in  France.  That  is  aif  exaggeration,  for  ever  absoiutfsm. 
sihce  the  time  of  Louis  XI.  (1461-83)  the  French  kings  had 
been  breaking  the  constitutional  shackles  that  limited  their 
will.  However,  at  the  time  of  Richelieu,  there  still  were  a 
number  of  ill-defined  institutions  which  possessed  a  certain 
customary  influence,  operating  as  a  restriction  upon  the 
king's  power,  and  these  Richelieu  systematically  reduced 
in  importance. 

Of  these  restrictive  institutions  those  most  in  view  were  The  states- 
the  States-General  (etats  generaux)  and  the  Parliament  of  and  the 
Paris  (parlement).     The    States-General   were   a  kind   of  parlement. 
legislative  body  of  feudal  character,  which  derived  *^their        ~~^^~-^ — ' 
name  from  the  fact  that  they  constituted  the  general  as- 
sembly of  the  three  estates  of  the  realm — the  clergy,  the 
nobles,  and  the  burghers.     The  kings  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  consulting  this  body  from  time  to  time,  but  it  had  never 
succeeded  in  securing  for  itself,  like  the  English   Parlia- 
ment a  firm  place  in  the  government.     The  States- General 
were  called  together  in  1614,  at  the  time  of  the  troubles  of 
the  regency,  and  then  not  again  for  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five years,  in  fact,  till  the  time  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion.    There  occurred  in  this  time  no  formal  abrogation 
of  their  powers;  what  happened  was  that  Richelieu  and  his 
successors  merely  permitted  the  institution  to  fall  into  obliv- 
ion.    The  Parliament  of  Paris  (there  were  a  dozen  others 
in  the  provinces),  radically  different  in  its  functions  from 
the  English   Parliament,  was  chiefly  a  judicial   body,  we 
might  say  a  supreme  court.     For  no  particular  reason  it  had 


I40  Modern  Europe 


acquired  the  strange  right  of  registering  the  king's  de- 
crees. The  king,  as  absolute  master,  could  indeed  publish 
new  laws  as  he  pleased,  blit  custom  required  that  they  be 
sealed  by  the  Parliament  with  its  official  seal  in  order 
to  be  valid.  That  looked  on  its  face  like  an  important 
privilege ;  however,  it  was  not  of  much  avail,  because 
if  the  registration  was  refused,  the  king  could  force  the 
hand  of  the  recalcitrants  by  ordering  the  registration  in 
person.  Such  a  session  of  the  Parliament,  when  the  king 
attended  in  state,  was  called  ''a  bed  of  justice  "  (Ht  de 
justice).  The  Parliament  also  Richelieu  in  his  high-handed 
manner  disregarded  and  abased,  but  soon  after  his  death 
it  acquired  its  old  prerogatives  again,  and  from  then  until 
the  Revolution  (1789)  it  acted,  within  its  limited  sphere, 
as  a  check  upon  the  absolute  power  of  the  king.  On  the 
whole,  therefore,  France  has  reason  to  accept  Richelieu's 
internal  labors  with  a  somewhat  qualified  approval. 
Progress  of  Richelieu's  reign  exhibits  France  advancing  toward  the 

cufture.  zenith  of  her  culture.      He  himself  established  the  famous 

Academy  of  France,  as  a  kind  of  sovereign  body  in  the  field 
of  letters  (1635),  and  lived  to  see  the  birth  of  the  French 
drama  in  the  work  of  Corneille  (The  Cid,  1636). 


M 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR    (l 6 1 8-48)    AND    THE    PEACE   OF 
WESTPHALIA 

The  Peace  of  Augsburg  (1555)  ended  the  first  religious  The  Peace  of 
war  of  Germany,  by  an  attempt  to  accommodate  the  claims  doff  not  end 
of  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants.  But  this  attempt  did  Joubief  of^ 
not  and  could  not  succeed.  The  article,  called  the  Eccle-  Germany, 
siastical  Reservation,  tried  to  protect  the  Catholic  Church 
by  forbidding  all  future  secularizations  of  her  territory,  but 
the  article  had  hardly  been  adopted  when  triumphant  Pro- 
testantism infringed  upon  it  at  every  point.  The  Catholics 
were  thus  furnished  with  a  standing  complaint  against 
their  rivals.  And  other  difficulties  were  not  wanting. 
Shortly  after  the  Peace  of  Augsburg,  the  Protestantism  of 
Calvin,  which  called  itself  the  Reformed  faith  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  current  Lutheran  faith  of  Germany,  spread, 
especially  in  the  southwest  (Palatinate),  until  it  threatened 
to  supplant  the  older  Protestant  worship.  Thereupon  the 
Lutherans,  who  with  the  intolerance  of  the  age,  hated  their 
Reformed  brethren  as  much  as  they  hated  the  Catholics, 
joined  the  latter  in  insisting  that  the  Calvinistic  doctrine 
had  no  legal  basis,  since  it  was  not  included  in  the  Peace 
of  Augsburg.  Thus  Calvinism  led  a  very  precarious  ex- 
istence. 

It  is  a  wonder  that  in  spite  of  the  incessant  quarrels  of  Peace  is  pre- 
the  three  parties,  which   filled   all    the    Diets    with    their   theTmmrd^'te 
clamor,  the  peace  was  so  long  preserved.      Probably  jeal-   successors  of 
ousy  of  one  another  and  fear  of  the  consequences  of  the 

141 


142  Modern  Europe 

sanguinary  struggle  which  would  follow,  kept  them  from 
proceeding  to  extremes.  Moreover,  the  immediate  suc- 
cessors of  Charles  V.,  his  brother,  Ferdinand  I.  (1556-64), 
and  his  nephew,  Maximilian  II.  (1564-76),  were  moder- 
ate men,  who  hoped  to  achieve  more  for  the  unity  of  Chris- 
tianity by  peace  than  by  war.  They  kept  up  amicable 
relations  with  the  Protestant  princes  of  both  sects  and  con- 
centrated all  their  efforts  upon  mediation. 
The  advance  The  long  truce  between  the  two  faiths,  which  outlasted 

ism.  °  ^^  ^  ■  the  century,  was  at  first  highly  favorable  to  the  Protestants. 
Lutherans  and  Calvinists  alike  were  little  impeded  in  their 
propaganda,  and  soon  the  whole  German  north  had  become 
solidly  Protestant,  while  in  the  south,  Austria  and  Bavaria 
themselves,  states  which  were  looked  upon  as  mainstays 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  were  becoming  dangerously  infiltrated 
with  the  heretical  poison.  The  Venetian  ambassador,  an 
acute  student  of  social  phenomena,  wrote  at  this  time  that 
scarcely  one-tenth  of  the  inhabitants  of  Germany  still  pro- 
fessed allegiance  to  the  Papacy.  The  statement  may  have 
been  an  exaggeration,  but  it  proves  that  the  disposition  of 
the  people  was  favorable  to  the  new  faith,  and  that  if  the 
Protestants  would  only  have  ceased  their  mutual  bickerings 
and  organized  their  propaganda,  they  could,  without  the 
help  of  persecution,  by  the  mere  force  of  circumstances, 
have  driven  Catholicism  out  of  Germany. 
The  growth  of  But  the  laxness  of  the  Protestants  lost  them  the  prize, 
reaction. °'^  and  soon  the  Catholics,  arousing  themselves  from  the  leth- 
argy into  which  they  had  fallen,  reorganized  their  forces 
at  the  Council  of  Trent,  under  the  leadership  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  boldly  undertook  the  reconquest  of  Germany. 
From  the  time  of  Emperor  Rudolph  II.  (1576-1612),  anew 
Catholic  vigor  became  noticeable.  The  Jesuits  stole  their 
way  to  the  hearths  of  the  ruling  Catholic  families,  and 
from  the  courts  of  Vienna  and  Munich,  as  operating  cen- 


Thirty  Years'  War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia     143 

tres,  gradually  widened  the  sphere  of  their  influence.  They 
did  their  work  with  firm  zeal  and  noiseless  caution.  They 
served  their  princely  masters,  as  father-confessors  or  as  min- 
isters of  state,  and  in  either  case  controlled  their  policy ; 
they  founded  schools  and  colleges;  they  sent  their  mis- 
sionaries into  all  hesitating  communities,  and  soon  amazed 
the  Protestants  with  the  news  of  the  reconversion  to  Mother 
Church  of  princes  and  whole  territories. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  tension  Protestant 
had  so  increased  that,  when  a  Catholic  army  took  posses-  catholic" 
sion  of  the  free  City  of  Donauworth  (1607),  because  the  League. 
Protestant  population  there  had  insulted  a  Catholic  pro- 
cession, the  Protestants  met  in  indignation  and  established 
a  Union  for  purposes  of  mutual  protection  (1608).  Their 
step  was  answered  the  next  year  (1609),  by  a  similar  organi- 
zation on  the  part  of  the  Catholics,  which  they  called  the 
Holy  League.  Henceforth,  Germany  was  divided  into  the 
two  hostile  camps  of  League  and  Union,  either  ready  to 
take  the  field  against  the  other  as  soon  as  the  occasion 
served.  Under  the  circumstances  the  opinion  was  becom- 
ing general,  that  the  terrible  suspense  about  the  endless  re- 
ligious questions  ought  finally  to  be  terminated,  one  way 
or  another.  From  the  first,  however,  this  difference  be- 
tween the  two  religious  camps  ought  to  be  noted,  that, 
while  the  Catholics  were  firmly  organized  under  a  capable 
man,  Maximilian,  duke  of  Bavaria,  the  Protestants,  owing 
to  their  old  divisions,  gave  their  Calvinistic  president, 
Frederick,  the  count  palatine  of  the  Rhine,  only  a  wavering 
support. 

The  occasion  that  the  two  parties  were  looking  for,  in   The  affairs  of 
order  to  begin  the  war,  was  at  length  furnished  by  Bohemia. 
The  kingdomof  Bohemia,  a  state  inhabited  by  Slavs  (Czechs) 
and  Germans,  was    a   member  of  the    Empire,  and   had, 
under  Ferdinand  L  been  added   to   the  possessions  of  the 


144  Modern  Europe 


House  of  Hapsburg.  By  the  same  irresistible  process  by 
which  the  faith  of  Luther  had  found  its  way  into  the  Aus- 
trian territories,  it  had  succeeded  in  getting  a  foothold  in 
Bohemia.  When  Emperor  Rudolph  tried  to  root  it  out, 
he  found  that  it  was  too  strong  for  him,  and  was  forced, 
in  the  end,  to  accept  it.  His  charter  of  1609,  called 
the  Letter  of  Majesty,  practically  established  freedom 
of  worship  for  Bohemia.  But  both  Rudolph  and  his 
successor,  Matthias  (161 2-19),  bore  with  the  Protestants 
only  out  of  necessity,  and  from  the  numerous  indignities 
put  upon  the  new  faith,  it  became  evident  to  all  that  the 
The  revolution  charter  was  not  intended  as  a  final  settlement.  In  the  year 
1618.  '  1618,  the  Protestants,  angered  beyond  endurance  at  the 
brutal  disingenuousness  of  Matthias,  rose  in  revolt  against 
his  representatives.  They  invaded  their  castle  residence 
at  Prague,  and  tossed  them  roughly  out  of  the  window.  * 
Then  they  set  up  a  government  of  their  own.  Thus  the 
challenge  that  Protestants  and  Catholics  had  been  awaiting 
for  years  was  given;  the  Thirty  Years'  War  had  begun. 

The  four  It  is  customary  to  divide  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  for  con- 

Periods   of   the  ,  -,  .  -TTT^l-T-wl- 

Thirty  Years'     venience  sake,  into   four  periods — the   Bohemian-Palatine 
^'  Period  (1618-23),  the  Danish  Period  (1625-29),  the  Swe- 

dish Period  (1630-35),  and  the  French-Swedish  Period 
(1635-48).  Perhaps  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  war 
is,  that,  beginning  with  a  local  struggle  in  Bohemia,  it 
should  gradually  have  spread  until  it  included  all  Europe. 
The  above  divisions  indicate  the  widening  circles.  From 
Bohemia  it  first  extended  over  southern  Germany  (Bohemi- 
an-Palatine Period)  ;  then  slowly,  northern  Germany  and  its 


•This  famous  act  has  invited  much  amused  comment.  The  three 
men,  thus  summarily  projected  down  a  height  of  one  hundred  feet, 
arrived  at  the  bottom  shocked,  but  whole.  The  Catholic  world  never 
tired  of  crying  miracle,  while  the  Protestants  prosaically  explained  the 
successful  fall  by  a  reference  to  the  heaps  of  ancient  refuse  which  Ut- 
tered the  grouncf. 


Thirty  Years    War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia     145 

nearest  Protestant  neighbor  caught  fire  (Danish  Period) ; 
and  finally,  country  upon  country  was  moved  to  take  part, 
until  the  war  was  no  longer  a  German  struggle  at  all,  but 
assumed,  first,  the  aspect  of  a  general  conflict  between 
Protestantism  and  Catholicism,  and  secondly,  the  character 
of  a  struggle  between  the  two  great  dynasties,  Hapsburg  and 
Bourbon,  for  the  supremacy  in  Europe. 

The  Bohemian- Palatitie  Period. — The  revolutionaries  at 
Prague  had  hardly  set  up  their  government,  when  they 
appealed  to  the  Protestant  Union  for  help.  This  distract-  The  Union 
ed  body  was  never  capable  of  resolute  action,  but  it  sent  hemian  rebels. 
sufficient  aid  to  permit  a  successful  preliminary  campaign 
against  an  unprepared  enemy.  In  the  midst  of  it  (16 19) 
the  incapable  Matthias  died,  and  the  Hapsburg  dominions 
passed  to  amanof  altogether  different  mould,  Ferdinand  II. 

Ferdinand   II.  (1619-37),    who  had   been  brought  up   Ferdinand  II., 
by  the  Jesuits,  united  with  a  narrow  Catholic  intolerance   ^  ^^^^' 
many  incontestable  Christian  virtues  and  undeniable  ex- 
ecutive ability.      He  was  acknowledged  in  all   his  domin- 
ions but  Bohemia,  and  the  electors  of  the  Empire,  although 
the  electoral  college  was  partly  Protestant,  so  far  accepted 
the  time-honored  ascendancy  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg 
as   to    elect   him   emperor.     Ferdinand   felt    that   having 
gained    so   much,   he    must    now  undertake   the    recovery 
of  Bohemia.     He   appealed   to  the  Catholic    League    for   Appeals  to  the 
help,   and   Maximilian   of  Bavaria,    its  president,  readily   heip?^^  ^^ 
granted  it. 

Maximilian  and  Ferdinand  had  been  brought  up  to- 
gether under  the  same  Jesuit  influences,  and  from  boyhood 
had  been  sincerely  attached  to  each  other  and  to  their  re- 
ligion. Maximilian  was  even  more  active  and  more  Maximilian  of 
capable  in  a  practical  sense  than  Ferdinand,  and  so  was  ^^^"^ 
doubly  urged,  by  religion  and  by  ambition,  to  lend  his 
friend     aid    for    the     Bohenyan    enterprise.      Moreover, 


146 


Modern  Europe 


The     decisive 

Bohemian 

campaign. 


The  Palatin- 
ate occupied 
by  the  Cath- 
oHcs. 


events  had  just  taken  a  new  turn.  The  Bohemian  Prot- 
estants, in  order  to  strengthen  their  hand,  had  elected 
Frederick,  count  palatine  of  the  Rhine  and  head  of  the 
Protestant  Union,  king  of  Bohemia,  and  Maximilian,  as 
head  of  the  League,  felt  that  he  could  not  let  his  adversary 
assume  this  honor  unchallenged. 

In  the  year  1620,  there  followed  the  campaign  which 
decided  the  fate  of  Bohemia.  Frederick,  the  new  king, 
proved  utterly  inadequate  for  his  task.  The  Protestant 
Union  gave  little  help;  the  Lutheran  elector  of  Saxony 
even  joined  the  Catholics.  At  the  battle  of  the  White 
Hill,  just  outside  of  Prague,  the  united  forces  of  the  em- 
peror and  the  League  scattered  the  army  of  Frederick 
to  the  four  winds,  and  drove  Frederick  ^  himself  precipitate- 
ly across  Germany  to  the  Netherlands.  Ferdinand  and 
his  Jesuits  immediately  took  possession  of  Bohemia  and 
forced  it  back  to  Catholicism. 

The  war  would  now  have  been  over  if  the  Catholics  had 
been  contented  with  their  first  success.  But  urged  on  by 
Spain  and  the  Jesuits,  the  emperor  allowed  himself  to  be 
hurried  into  a  new  and  larger  enterprise.  He  placed  the 
defeated  count  palatine  Frederick  under  the  ban  of  the 
Empire,  and  commissioned  Maximilian  to  occupy  his  ter- 
ritories, \vhich  straggled  in  loose  array  along  southern 
Germany  from  the  Rhine  to  Bohemia,  and  were  known 
under  the  name  of  ^ the  Palatinate.  Even  the  Lutherans, 
hitherto  indifferent,  became  excited  at  this  outrage,  and  a 
number  of  campaigns  were  necessary  before  Maximilian's 
troops  could  execute  the  imperial  order. 

And  now  a  new  danger  arose.  Protestants  the  world 
over  had  expressed   their  grief  at  the  defeat  of  their  co- 


>  Frederick  is  known  under  the  derisive  sobriquet  of  the  Winter-king. 
He  was  monarch  for  a  season  only,  and  vanished  at  the  coming  of  the 
spring.  • 


Thirty  Years    War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia     147 

religionists  in  Germany,  while  the  European  Catholics  eel-  The  situation 
ebrated  the  emperor's  victory  as  their  own.  Religion,  it  te^resT the  rest 
must  be  remembered,  was  still  the  dominant  interest  of  the  °^  Europe, 
day.  Thus  Frederick's  misfortunes  gradually  won  him  the 
sympathies  of  foreign  Protestant  monarchs,  and  especially  of 
James  I.  of  England,  whose  daughter  Elizabeth  1  Frederick 
had  married.  But  all  the  larger  states  which  sympathized 
with  Frederick  were  for  the  present  restrained  from  giving 
help  by  difiiculties  of  their  own.  James  I.  had  begun  that 
quarrel  with  his  Parliament,  which  under  his  successor  led 
to  civil  war,  and  annulled  England's  influence  in  continen- 
tal affairs  until  the  time  of  Cromwell.  France,  too,  where 
Richelieu  had  just  come  to  power  (1624),  was  interested 
in  sustaining  Frederick  against  the  House  of  Hapsburg, 
but  had  her  hands  full  with  the  difficulties  caused  by  the 
Huguenots.  Again,  in  the  Netherlands  the  twelve  year's 
truce  had  come  to  an  end  (162 1),  and  Spain  had  just  renewed 
the  war  against  her  former  subjects,  while  the  leading  Scan- 
dinavian power,  Sweden,  was  engaged  in  fighting  Russia  and 
Poland.  The  only  power,  therefore,  which,  for  the  present, 
could  be  persuaded  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  count  pal- 
atine was  Denmark. 

As  things  then  stood,  interference  from  some  quarter 
or  another  was  becoming  absolutely  necessary,  if  Protes- 
tantism in  southern  Germany  was  not  to  be  given  up  as   The    emperor 
lost.     For  the  emperor,  rendered  bold  by  the  general  Euro-    paSt^nate  as  i1 
pean  situation,  favorable  for  the  moment   to   Catholicism,    it  were  his. 
had  just  taken  another  step,  from  which  the  full  intention  of 
the  Jesuits  who  controlled  him,  could  be  easily  inferred  : 
he  had  given  the  electoral  dignity  and  part  of  the  territory 
of  the  banished  Frederick  to  his  Catholic  ally,  Maximilian, 
duke  and  henceforth  elector  of  Bavaria  (1623). 


1  Frederick  and  Ehzabeth  are  the  ancestors  of  the  present  sovereigns 
of  England  (see  genealogical  chart). 


148 


Modern  Europe 


The   theatre 
transferred  to 
the  north. 


The  two  Cath- 
ohc  armies  of 
Tilly  and 
Wallenstein. 


VVallensteiu's 
methods. 


The  Danish  War  {162^-2^). — In  the  year  1625, 
Christian  IV.,  king  of  Denmark,  liaving  secured  the  prom- 
ise of  money-help  from  England,  gave  ear  to  the  sup- 
plications of  the  Calvinistic  wing  of  the  German  Protes- 
tants and  placed  himself  at  their  head.  The  theatre  of 
the  war  was  thus  immediately  transferred  from  the  south 
to  the  north. 

Again  the  Catholics  won  a  complete  victory.  The  two 
Protestant  armies  which  took  the  field,  one  under  Christian 
IV.,  the  other  under  the  adventurer  Mansfeld,  were  neither 
well  disciplined  nor  well  led.  The  two  Catholic  armies 
which  operated  against  them  were  in  every  way  their  su- 
periors. The  first  of  these  had  been  equipped  by  the  Catholic 
League  and  was  commanded  by  Tilly,  the  victor  of  the 
White  Hill,  while  the  second  had  only  lately  been  got  to- 
gether by  the  personal  activity  of  a  Bohemian  nobleman,  one 
Wallenstein^,  who  placed  it  at  the  service  of  the  emperor. 

This  Wallenstein  was  destined  to  acquire  a  terrible  repu- 
tation in  Germany,  for  it  was  he  who  inaugurated  that 
system  of  warfare  which  was  soon  imitated  by  others,  and 
makes  the  Thirty  Years'  War  a  term  of  horror  to  this  day. 
The  emperor,  owing  to  the  exhaustion  of  his  treasury,  had 
hitherto  waged  the  war  primarily  with  the  troops  of  the 
League.  Wallenstein  now  proposed  the  bold  plan  of  rais- 
ing an  army  for  him  which  should  cost  him  nothing.  His 
notion  was  convincingly  simple ;  the  army  was  to  live  by 
fines,  confiscations,  and  rapine.  Wallenstein's  personal 
magnetism,  his  promise  of  large  pay  and  plunder,  soon 
furnished  him  with  a  numerous  army  of  adventurers,  who 
cared  neither  for  Catholicism  nor  Protestantism,  and  blindly 
served  their  chief.  Wherever  this  army  passed,  were  it 
through  land  of  friend  or  foe,  it  left  a  desert  behind. 


» Wallenstein's  real  name  was  Waldstein.     The  wrong  form  has  its 
justification  in  custom. 


Thirty  Years    War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia     149 

A  victory  won  by  Wallenstein  over  Mansfeld,  at  the  Denmark 
Bridge  of  Dessau  (1626),  and  another  won  by  Tilly  over  ^^^^^^  P^^^^- 
Christian  IV.  at  Lutter  (1626),  proved  decisive  of  the 
Danish  fortunes.  The  armies  of  League  and  emperor  in- 
vaded the  peninsula  of  Jutland,  and,  though  Christian  con- 
tinued to  defend  himself,  he  had  finally  to  give  way.  In 
the  year  1629  he  was  glad  to  sign  the  Peace  of  Llibeck 
with  the  emperor,  upon  terms  which  secured  him  his  terri- 
tories in  return  for  the  promise  that  he  would  not  again 
interfere  in  the  affairs  of  Germany. 

Even  before  the  Peace  of  Lubeck  was  signed,  Wallenstein  Waiienstein's 
had  covered  the  whole  Protestant  north  with  his  troops.  His  ^  ^"^' 
remarkable  mind  was  nursing  designs  so  vast  and  intricate 
that  no  historian  even  of  our  day  can  claim  to  have  pene- 
trated them.  Probably  their  gist  was  to  destroy  the  power 
of  the  German  princes,  to  build  up  a  strong  united  Ger- 
many under  the  emperor,  with  himself  as  a  kind  of  mayor 
of  the  palace,  and  to  make  Germany  a  naval  power.  His 
successes  were  unchecked  till  he  arrived  at  Stralsund,  a  First  defeat  at 
port  of  the  Baltic  Sea.  This  city,  although  he  vowed  in  his  1-629.^""  ' 
wrath  he  would  have  it,  ^'even  though  it  were  fastened  to 
heaven  by  chains  of  iron,"  he  could  not  take,  and  was 
forced  to  retire.  Next  to  herself,  Stralsund  owed  her  de- 
liverance to  the  supplies,  secretly  contributed  by  a  voluntary 
ally,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden.  This  monarch 
had  been  for  some  time  planning  to  interfere  in  the  Ger- 
man war,  but  he  was  detained  by  a  war  which  he  had 
begun  with  Poland.  While  he  was  bringing  this  to  a 
close  and  preparing  to  come  in  person  to  Germany,  a 
number  of  events  occurred  there  that  greatly  facilitated  his 
projects. 

In  spite  of  the  slight  check  at  Stralsund,  the  year  1629   The  Edict  of 
marks  the  climax   of  the  Catholic  successes.      7'he  Peace 


of  Liibecl^had  removed  Denmark  from  the  struggle ;  in  the 


1629. 


I50 


Modern  Europe 


Dismissal  of 
VVallenstein. 


Reasons  for 
the  coming  of 
Gustavus 
Adolphus 


length  and  breadth  of  Germany  there  was  no  army  to  re- 
sist the  emperor ;  and  Wallenstein  and  Tilly  held  both 
the  north  and  the  south.  This  triumphant  situation 
persuaded  Ferdinand  II.  to  strike  a  decisive  blow  at  the 
Protestant  religion.  He  pubhshed  (1629)  the  Edict  of 
Restitution,  by  which  the  Protestants  were  ordered  to  give 
up  all  Church  territories  which  had  been  taken  into  posses- 
sion since  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  (1555).  As  this  affected 
two  archbishoprics,  nine  bishoprics,  and  many  monasteries, 
altogether  a  considerable  fraction  of  German  land,  it  will 
be  understood  why  all  Protestants,  even  the  sluggish  Lu- 
therans, were  seized  with  consternation.  For  a  moment 
differences  were  forgotten,  and  all  stood  firm,  ready  to  re- 
new an  opposition  which  seemed  to  have  been  broken  by 
the  tide  of  Catholic  victory. 

Luckily  for  the  Protestants,  the  emperor  himself  by  his 
very  next  step  frustrated  his  own  policy.  Wallenstein's 
savage  warfare,  above  all,  his  imperial  policy,  which  involved 
the  ruin  of  the  princes.  Catholic  and  Protestant  alike, 
had  won  him  their  united  hatred.  At  the  Diet  of  Ratisbon 
(Regensburg,  1630),  they  fiercely  demanded  his  dismissal. 
The  emperor  hesitated  for  a  moment,  and  then  gave  way. 
Wallenstein  was  forced  to  take  leave  of  his  army  at  the 
very  moment  when  there  gathered  against  Ferdinand  the 
worst  storm  which  had  yet  threatened. 

Swedish  Period  {i6jo-jf). — Wallenstein's  retirement 
occurred  almost  at  the  same  time  as  the  landing  in  Germany 
of  an  army  of  Swedes  under  Gustavus  Adolphus.  What  were 
the  motives  of  this  Swedish  king  in  thus  intervening  in  Ger- 
man affairs?  They  can  still  be  made  out  with  perfect  ease. 
First,  he  was  certainly  moved  by  self-interest.  Sweden  was 
a  Baltic  power  and  had  been  striving  for  some  time  to  make 
of  the  Baltic  a  *'  Swedish  lake."  The  wars  which  Gustavus 
Adolphus  had  directed  against  Russia  and    Poland  were 


Thirty  Years    War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia     151 

waged  in  obedience  to  this  ambitious  policy,  and  had  prac- 
tically secured  Sweden  the  whole  Baltic  coast  as  far  as  Prussia. 
The  attempt  of  Wallenstein  to  establish  the  emperor  along 
the  northern  coast  of  Germany  might  certainly  be  conceived 
as  a  danger  by  a  Swedish  patriot,  and  Gustavus,  frightened  at 
Wallenstein 's  successes,  gradually  became  convinced  that  the 
safety  of  his  state  depended  upon  the  defeat  of  the  House  of 
Hapsburg.  Secondly,  he  was  an  ardent  Protestant,  ready  to 
risk  a  blow  for  a  cause  he  loved.  It  is  unnecessary  to  try  to 
measure  mathematically,  as  some  historians  have  attempted 
to  do,  which  of  these  two  motives  was  dominant  in  his  mind. 
Capable  men,  such  as  Gustavus,  who  combine  ideal  aspira- 
tions with  a  sense  of  the  necessities  and  realities  of  power, 
always  follow  a  line  of  action  which  delicately  strikes  the 
balance  between  a  multitude  of  considerations.  In  any 
case,  Gustavus  came  as  a  rescuing  angel  to  the  aid  of  a 
dying  cause,  and  immediately  gave  to  events  that  larger 
proportion,  which  lifted  the  brutal  struggle  of  the  religious 
parties  momentarily  to  a  higher  plane.  Everyone  who 
follows  the  story  of  his  intervention  must  feel  that  he  merits 
the  title  he  has  won  of  the  Protestant  Hero. 

Gustavus  attempted,  upon  landing  in  Germany,  to  se-  Attitude  of  the 
cure  the  alliance  of  the  German  princes.  But  this  was  no  pr^nceT 
easy  matter.  They  were  glad  enough  to  have  his  help,  but 
they  had  legitimate  scruples  about  contributing  in  person 
to  the  defeat  of  their  emperor  and  handing  over  Germany 
to  a  foreigner.  While  Gustavus  was  still  negotiating  with 
them,  aid  came  to  him  from  another  quarter.  Richelieu 
had  now  mastered  the  Huguenots  (fall  of  La  Rochelle, 
1628),  and  was  determined,  like  Gustavus,  to  proceed  vig- 
orously against  the  Hapsburgs.  Under  the  circumstances 
nothing  was  more  natural  than  that  France  and  Sweden  Alliance  with 
should  form  an  aUiance,  which  was  duly  concluded  in 
1 63 1,  and  which  henceforth  determined  the  course  of  the 


France. 


152 


Modern  Europe 


The  sack  of 
Magdeburg, 
1631. 


The  battle  of 

Breitenfeld, 

1631. 


Gustavus 
becomes  the 
hero  of  Prot- 
estant Ger- 
many. 


Occupies 
Bavaria. 


war.  For  the  present,  however,  the  part  of  France  was 
hmited  to  a  contribution  of  money  to  the  Swedish  treasury. 

All  this  time  Gustavus  was  in  the  north,  waiting  for  the 
Protestant  princes  to  join  him.  While  they  were  still 
hesitating,  fearful  alike  about  the  oppression  of  the  em- 
peror and  the  salvation  promised  by  the  king  of  Sweden, 
the  army  of  the  League,  under  Tilly,  took,  plundered,  and 
utterly  destroyed  the  great  Protestant  city  of  Magdeburg 
(1631).  The  horror  of  the  terrible  massacre  (20,000  in- 
habitants were  butchered  by  the  soldiery)  did  more  than 
persuasion,  and  threw  the  Protestants,  and,  above  all,  the 
greatest  prince  of  the  north,  the  elector  of  Saxony,  upon 
the  Swedish  side.  Having  secured  this  important  ally, 
Gustavus  could  now  march  south  against  Tilly  without 
fear  of  an  insurrection  at  his  back.  At  Breitenfeld,  near 
Leipsic,  a  great  battle  took  place,  in  which  Swedish  gen- 
eralship and  discipline  astonished  the  world  by  utterly  de- 
feating the  veteran  army  of  Tilly  (September,  163 1). 

The  victory  of  Breitenfeld  laid  all  Germany  at  the  feet 
of  Gustavus.  Never  was  there  a  more  complete  dramatic 
change.  The  Catholics,  who,  a  year  before,  had  held  the 
reins  in  their  hands,  were  now  in  exactly  the  same  help- 
less position  in  which  the  Protestants  had  then  found  them- 
selves. Gustavus,  received  everywhere  with  jubilation  by 
the  Protestants,  whom  he  had  delivered,  marched  without 
opposition,  straight  across  Germany  to  the  Rhine.  The 
march  was  nothing  less  than  a  triumphal  progress.  But  in 
spite  of  flattery  Gustavus  did  not" allow  himself  to  be  car- 
ried off  his  feet.  However,  during  the  idle  hours  of  the 
winter -quarters  on  the  Rhine,  all  kinds  of  plans  crossed 
his  mind  ;  it  is  probable  that  he  thought  for  a  moment  of 
making  himself  emperor  of  Protestant  Germany. 

The  spring,  and  the  work  which  it  brought,  scattered 
such  dreams.     Again  taking  the  field  he  directed  his  forces 


Thirty  Years    War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia     153 


straight  upon  the  country  of  his  enemies.  Triumph  was 
added  to  triumph  in  the  new  campaign.  At  the  river 
Lech,  Tilly  was  defeated  and  killed,  and  shortly  after,  Mu- 
nich, the  Bavarian  capital,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes- 
To  the  world  at  large  it  seemed  as  if  Vienna  was  likewise 
doomed.  In  this  terrible  situation  Ferdinand  again  turned 
to  Wallenstein  for  help.  That  general,  since  his  dismissal, 
had  been  sulking  on  his  estates.  When  Ferdinand's  ambas-  Wallenstein 
sador  now  besought  him  for  aid  he  affected  indifference,  but  rescue, 
at  length  he  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  collect  an 
army,  upon  condition  that  his  command  be  declared  per- 
manent and  absolute.  Then  he  floated  his  standards  to 
the  wind,  and  immediately  the  old  veterans  flocked  around 
their  beloved  leader. 

In  the  summer  of  1632  Wallenstein  and  Gustavus,  the 
two  greatest  generals  of  their  day,  took  the  field  against 
each  other.  After  long  futile  manoeuvring  around  Nurem- 
berg, in  which  Wallenstein  won  some  slight  advantages.  The  battle  of 
the  two  armies  met  for  a  decisive  encounter  at  Liitzen,  not  vember,  1632. 
far  from  Leipsic  (November,  1632).  The  armies  of  that 
day  were  not  large;  20,000  Swedes  confronted  about  as 
many  Imperialists.  After  the  Swedish  army  had  knelt  in 
prayer  and  the  trumpeters  had  sounded  the  grand  old  hymn 
of  Luther,  ''A  Mighty  Fortress  is  our  God,"  Gustavus 
ordered  the  attack.  The  combat  was  long  and  fierce,  but 
the  Swedes  won  the  day;  they  won,  but  at  a  terrible 
cost.  In  one  of  the  charges  of  horse,  the  impetuosity  of 
Gustavus  had  carried  him  too  far  into  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy,  and  he  was  surrounded  and  slain. 

With  the  death  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  all  higher  inter-   Degeneration 
est  vanishes   from   the  war.      His  great   achievement    had    the  death  of 
been  this  :  he  had  saved  the  cause  of  Protestantism  in  Ger-    Gustavus. 
many,  and  perhaps,  in  the  world — that  is,  he  had  saved  a 
cause  which,  however  repulsive  in  some  of  its  manifesta- 


154 


Modern  Europe 


Swedes 
defeated  at 
Nordlingen, 
1634- 


Murder  of 
Wallenstein. 


The  emperor 
desires  peace. 


tions,  was  without  doubt  tlie  cause  of  human  freedom.  But 
now  on  Gustavus's  death,  the  war  lost  its  meaning.  Ad- 
venturers, raising  armies  on  their  own  account,  robbed 
and  murdered  on  zig-zag  marches  through  Germany,  and 
foreign  powers  interfered  for  their  own  greedy  ends  until 
the  original  question  of  religion  was  completely  buried 
from  sight. 

For  a  few  more  years  the  Swedes,  under  various  lieu- 
tenants, trained  in  the  school  of  Gustavus,  and  under  the 
political  direction  of  the  Chancellor  Oxenstiern,  who 
represented  Gustavus's  infant  daughter,  Queen  Christine, 
tried  to  hold  what  had  been  won  for  them.  But  in  1634 
they  were  defeated  by  the  Imperialists,  under  the  younger 
Ferdinand,  the  emperor's  son,  at  Nordlingen,  and  had  to 
give  up  southern  Germany.  Wallenstein  was,  at  that 
time,  no  longer  at  the  head  of  the  imperial  forces.  Having 
fallen  under  the  suspicion  of  treachery  he  was  murdered 
by  a  band  of  conspirators  at  Eger,  in  Bohemia,  just  as 
he  was  making  ready  to  betray  his  master  to  the  Swedes 
(February,  1634). 

The  victory  of  the  Imperialists  at  Nordlingen  had  two 
important  consequences.  First,  it  reestablished  the  prestige 
of  the  emperor.  Thereupon  Ferdinand,  who  had  at  last 
learned  a  lesson  in  moderation,  resolved  to  make  peace 
with  his  Protestant  subjects.  He  signed  the  Treaty  of 
Prague  with  the  elector  of  Saxony,  in  which  he  virtually 
withdrew  the  obnoxious  Edict  of  Restitution  (1635).  But 
the  concession  came  too  late  to  end  the  German  troubles.  In 
fact,  the  decision  between  peace  and  war  had  imperceptibly 
pa.ssed  out  of  the  hands  of  the  German  princes,  and  now  lay 
with  those  powers,  who,  through  the  faults  of  the  Germans, 
had  been  drawn  into  Germany  to  take  a  hand  in  their 
struggles.  At  this  very  moment — and  this  is  the  second 
consequence  of  the  emperor's  victory  at  Nordlingen — the 


Thirty  Years    War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia     155 

most  dangerous  of  all  of  Germany's  enemies  was  preparing    France  enters 

to  interfere  in  the  war.     Richelieu,  as  we  saw,  had  contented 

himself  hitherto  with  supporting  Sweden  with  money.     But 

since  the  battle  of  Nordlingen  proved  that  Sweden  alone  was 

no  longer  a  match  for  the  emperor,  Richelieu  now  resolved 

on  a  more  vigorous  interference.     In  1635  he  declared  war 

against  the  emperor  and  against  Spain. 

French- Swedish  Period,  16^^-48. 

From  now  on  the  war  was  the  conflict  of  the  House  of 
Bourbon,  allied  in  Germany  with  Sweden  and  in  the  Nether- 
lands with  the  Dutch,  against  the  Spanish  and  the  Austrian  Changed  char- 
branches  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  ;  and  the  theatre  of  the  ^var. 
struggle  of  these  two  dynasties  for  the  leadership  in  Europe 
was  the  territory  where  their  interests  clashed — the  Nether- 
lands, Italy,  and,  of  course,  Germany.  The  Protestant 
princes,  mere  pigmies  in  this  universal  contest,  sank  more 
and  more  out  of  sight.  If  the  war  continued,  it  was  not  be- 
cause of  any  interests  of  theirs,  but  because  Richelieu  was 
set  upon  reducing  the  Hapsburgs  in  the  world,  and  would 
not  retire  until  France  and  Sweden  had  gained  a  firm  foot- 
hold in  Germany. 

The  campaigns  of  this  last  period  of  the  war  consist, 
therefore,  of  a  patient  forward  thrust  across  the  Rhine  into 
southern  Germany,  on  the  part  of  France,  and  a  steady 
movement  southward  from  the  Baltic,  on  the  part  of  Swe-  The  attack  of 
den.  The  emperor,  aided  by  subsidies  from  Spain,  but  svre"cfen^" 
rarely  by  her  troops  (for  Spain  was  engaged  to  the  extent  of 
her  capacity  in  the  Netherlands  and  Italy),  made  what  re- 
sistance he  could,  while  the  Germans  looked  on,  for  the 
most  part  indifferent,  weary  to  death  of  the  long  struggle, 
and  unable  to  see  any  further  meaning  in  it.  Under  these 
conditions,  and  especially  after  the  great  generals,  Turenne 
and  the  prince  of  Conde,  were  put  at  the  head  of  the  French 


156  Modern  Europe 


troops,  the  emperor  was  steadily  pushed  back.  Year  in,  year 
out,  Germany  was  harried  by  fire  and  sword.  The  cities 
fell  into  decay,  the  country  was  deserted  by  the  peasants. 
When  the  product  of  labor  was  sure  to  become  the  booty 
of  marauders,  nobody  cared  to  work.  So  the  people 
The  long  fell    into    idleness,    were    butchered,    or    died    of  hunger 

cSrniany.  ^r  of  pestilence.     The   only  profession  which   afforded  se- 

curity and  a  livelihood  was  that  of  the  soldier,  and  soldier 
meant  robber  and  murderer.  Armies,  therefore,  became 
mere  bands,  organized  for  pillage,  and  marched  up  and 
down  the  country,  followed  by  immense  hordes  of  starved 
camp-followers,  women  and  children,  who  hoped,  in  this 
way,  to  get  a  sustenance  which  they  could  not  find  at 
home.^  Finally,  defeat  upon  defeat  brought  the  emperor 
to  terms.  Ferdinand  II.,  who  had  begun  the  war,  having 
died  in  the  meantime,  it  was  his  son  and  successor,  Ferdi- 
nand III.  (1637-57),  who  put  an  end  to  the  general  mis- 
ery by  signing,  after  wearisome  negotiations,  a  peace  with 
all  his  enemies,  called  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648).'* 
The  end  of  the  The  Peace  of  Westphalia  is,  from  the  variety  of  matter 
'^^^'  which  it  treats,  one  of  the  most  important  documents  in 

history.     First,  it   determined  what  territorial  compensa- 
tion France  and   Sweden  were   to  have   in  Germany  for 
The  main  sub-  their  victories  over  the  emperor ;  secondly,  it  laid  a  new  basis 
Peace  of   ^       for  the  peace  between  Protestantism  and  Catholicism  ;  and, 
Westphaha.       thirdly,  it  authorized  an  important  political  readjustment  of 
Germany.     All  these  rubrics  will  be  considered  separately. 
As  to  the   first  rubric,  Sweden  received    the    western 
half  of   Pomerania,   and   the    bishoprics  of  Bremen  and 
Verden.      By  these    possessions   she  was    put  in    control 


•  "A  body  of  40,000  fighting  men  drew  along  with  it  a  loathsome 
following  of  no  less  than  140,000  men,  women,  and  children." — 
Gardiner. 

"The  cities  of  Mfinster  and  Osnabruck,  where  the  plenipotentiaries 
met  to  negotiate  this  peace,  lie  in  the  Province  of  Westphalia. 


Thirty  Years'  War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia    157 

of  the  mouths  of  the  German  rivers,  the  Oder,  Elbe,  and  Cessions  to 
Weser,  and  therewith  of  a  good  part  of  the  German  ship-  l^a^nlS!  ^""^  *° 
ping.  France  was  confirmed  in  the  possession  of  the 
bishoprics  of  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun,  which  she  had 
acquired  under  Henry  II.  (1552),  and  received,  in  addi- 
tion, Alsace,  with  the  exception  of  the  city  of  Strasburg 
and  a  few  inconsiderable  districts. 

Under  the  second  rubric,  we  note  that  the  Peace  of  The  religious 
Augsburg  was  confirmed,  and  that  the  toleration  these  ^^"^"^^"'^• 
granted  to  the  Lutherans  was  extended  to  the  Calvinists.  In 
regard  to  the  bishoprics,  which  the  Edict  of  Restitution 
had  declared  to  be  Catholic,  the  victory  remained  substan- 
tially with  the  Protestants,  for  the  year  1624  was  desig- 
nated as  ''normal  year,"  it  being  agreed  that  whatever 
land  had  been  Protestant  at  that  time  should  remain  Prot- 
estant, and  vice  versa. 

Under  the  third  rubric  it  is  necessary  to  note  a  variety   Disruption 
of  political  and  territorial  changes  within  Germany.    First,    o^^^''"^^"y- 
the  princes  were  given  a  number  of  new  sovereign  rights ; 
among    others,    the    right  of  forming  alliances  with  each 
other,  and  with  foreign  powers.     Therewith  the  decentral- 
ization  of  Germany  was  completed,  and  the  single  states 
legally  declared    as  good   as  independent.      Furthermore, 
the  heir  of  the  deposed  elector  and  count  palatine  Fred- 
erick was  reinstated  in  his  father's  Rhenish  territories,  and 
an  eighth  electorate  created  for  him.     And  notably,  the 
elector  of  Brandenburg   received    additions  of    territory, 
which  made  him  not  only  the  greatest  Protestant  prince, 
but  the  greatest  prince  altogether  in  Germany,  after  the 
emperor.      Brandenburg,  thus   enlarged,    was   destined   to   Growth  of 
grow  into    a  kingdom  (Prussia),  and    become  in  time  the   ^i^^^denburg. 
rival  and  conqueror  of  Austria,  and   the  recreator  of  the 
German  political  unity  of  which  the  Peace  of  Westphalia 
made  an  end.     As  a  last   curious  item,  it  may  be  added 


158 


Modern  Europe 


Switzerland 
and  the 
Netherlands. 


Effect  of  the 
war  on  Ger- 
many. 


The  Peace  of 
Westphalia 
closes  the  era 
of  religious 
wars. 


that  Switzerland  and  the  Dutch  Netherlands  (Seven  United 
Provinces),  which  had  once  been  members  of  the  Em- 
pire, but  had  long  ago  won  a  practical  independence, 
were  formally  declared  free  from  any  obligations  to  that 
body. 

Germany  after  her  insufferable  crisis  lay  insensible  and 
exhausted.  Perhaps  the  contemporary  stories  of  the  ruin 
done  by  the  war  are  exaggerated, — in  any  case  it  is  certain 
that  Germany  took  more  than  a  hundred  years  to  recover 
from  her  disasters.  In  some  respects,  doubtless,  she  is  only 
just  now  recovering  from  them.  The  simple  fact  is,  that  the 
material  edifice  of  civilization,  together  with  most  of  the 
moral  and  intellectual  savings  of  an  ancient  society,  had  been 
destroyed,  and  that  what  was  left  was  barbarism.  The 
generation  which  survived  the  war  had  grown  up  without 
schools,  almost  without  pastors  and  churches,  and  to  its  men- 
tal and  moral  bluntness  it  added,  owing  to  the  long  rule  of 
force,  a  disdain  for  all  simple  and  honest  occupations. 
Yet,  if  there  was  to  be  a  recovery,  it  would  have  to  result 
from  long,  conscientious  labor  in  all  departments  of  prog- 
ress. Was  the  nation  likely  to  appreciate  this  necessity  ? 
Figures,  although  the  statistics  of  those  days  are  uncertain, 
help  us  to  realize  the  terrible  situation.  Augsburg,  the  great 
southern  centre  of  trade,  had  had  80,000  inhabitants  ;  the 
war  reduced  the  city  to  a  provincial  town  of  16,000. 
Whole  districts  were  depopulated :  in  Brandenburg,  one 
could  travel  days  without  meeting  a  peasant ;  in  Saxony, 
bands  of  wolves  took  possession  of  the  empty  villages. 
Finally,  the  war  left  the  Empire  with  a  population  of 
about  12,000,000 — that  is,  with  one-third  the  number  it 
had  once  possessed. 

The  Peace  of  Westphalia  had  also  a  European  signifi- 
cance. It  dealt  with  so  many  international  affairs,  that  it 
may  be  said  to  have  been,  in  a  measure,  a  constitution  of 


Thirty  Years   War  and  Peace  of  Westphalia     159 

Europe,  and  practically,  it  was  the  basis  of  European  public 
law  till  the  French  Revolution.  We  may  also  take  it  to 
mark  a  turning  point  in  the  destinies  of  civilization.  From 
the  time  of  Luther  the  chief  interest  of  Europe  had  been 
the  question  of  religion.  Europe  was  divided  into  two 
camps,  Catholicism  and  Protestantism,  which  opposed  each 
other  with  all  their  might.  In  the  Peace  of  Westphalia, 
the  two  parties  recorded  what  they  had  gradually  been 
learning, — which  was,  that  such  a  fight  was  futile,  and  that 
they  would  better  learn  to  put  up  with  each  other.  Almost 
imperceptibly  men's  minds  had  grown  more  tolerant,  even 
if  the  taws  were  not  always  so,  and  this  is,  when  all  is 
said,  the  more  satisfactory  progress.  The  best  proof  of 
the  improved  state  of  the  European  mind  toward  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  is  offered  by  the  prac- 
tical application  of  this  very  peace  instrument.  The 
toleration  there  granted  was  merely  of  the  old  kind — the 
toleration  of  the  princes,  but  not  of  the  individuals,  ex- 
pressed by  the  famous  cujus  regio,  ejus  religio  (he  who  The  principle 
rules  the  country  may  settle  its  religion) — yet,  persecution 
of  individuals  was  henceforth  the  exception,  and  not  the 
rule.  It  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  principle 
of  toleration  had  now  been  conquered  for  humanity,  or 
that  the  squabbles  for  religion's  sake  ceased  in  the  world, 
but  it  may  be  asserted,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that 
toleration  had  won  with  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  a  definite 
recognition  among  the  upper  and  the  cultured  classes.  Dur- 
ing the  next  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the  principle 
filtrated  gradually  through  the  literary  labor  of  many  noble 
thinkers,  to  the  lowest  strata  of  society,  and  became  in  the 
era  of  the  French  Revolution  a  possession  of  all  mankind. 
As  early  as  the  period  of  the  Westphalian  treaties,  however, 
religion  ceased  to  be  the  first  interest  of  states,  or  the 
primary  cause  of  their  quarrels.     That  place  was  taken  by 


of  toleration. 


i6o  Modern  Europe 


political  interests  ;  in  other  words,  governments  concerned 
themselves  primarily  henceforth  with  problems  of  their  own 
reconstruction  or  with  territorial  aggrandizement  at  the 
expense  of  their  neighbors.  A  new  period  of  European 
history  had  begun,  which  we  call  the  period  of  absolutism 
and  the  dynastic  wars. 


PERIOD  II 

The  Era  of  Absolutism  and  the  Dynastic  Wars; 
FROM  THE  Peace  of  Westphalia  to  the 
French  Revolution  (1648-1789). 

bibliography. 

General  Histories. 

[For  General  Histories  which  cover  the  whole  Modern  Period  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  preceding  bibliography.] 

Wakeman :  European  History,  from  1598  to  171 5.  Full  of  good 
material,  well  arranged,  and  well  presented. 

Hassall :  European  History,  from  1715  to  1789.  Intended  as  a  con- 
tinuation of  Wakeman. 

There  are  a  number  of  serviceable  volumes  in  the  Epoch  Series. 
Such  are  :  The  English  Restoration  and  Louis  XIV.  ;  The  Age  of 
Anne  ;  The  Early  Hanoverians.  Others  will  be  referred  to  under 
Special  Histories. 

Special  Histories. 

[For  Special  Histories  which  cover  the  whole  Modern  Period  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  preceding  bibliography.] 

Germany. 

Longman :  Frederick  the  Great  and  the  Seven  Years'  War.     Good 

and  readable. 
Carlyle  :   History  of  Frederick  the  Great.     A  work  on  a  unique  scale. 

Unfolds  a  magnificent  panorama  of  the  whole  eighteenth  century. 

Truthful  in  spirit,  but  not  always  correct  in  detail. 
161 


1 62  Modern  Europe 


France. 

Voltaire:  The  Age  of  Louis  XIV.  Offers  an  almost  contemporary 
view.     Spirited  but  inaccurate.     Also,  The  Age  of  Louis  XV. 

Great  Britain. 

Gardiner  :  The  Puritan  Revolution.     An  excellent  sketch. 

Gardiner:  History  of  England  (1602-42),  10  vols.  This  and  the 
other  works  of  Gardiner  may  be  called  authoritative. 

Gardiner:   History  of  the  Civil  War  (1642-45),  4  vols. 

Gardiner:  History  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  (1649-60), 
2  vols. 

Carlyle  :  Oliver  Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches,  2  vols.  This  col- 
lection constitutes  Cromwell's  noblest  monument. 

Lecky :   England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  8  vols. 

McCarthy :  The  Four  Georges.     Readable  but  unsubstantial. 

There  are  a  great  number  of  contemporary  memoirs.  P^or  the 
period  of  Cromwell  see  Whitelock ;  for  the  Restoration,  Pepys  and 
Evelyn. 

Other  Countries. 

Voltaire :  History  of  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden.  Interesting  and  anec- 
dotal, but  not  trustworthy. 

Works  of  the  Imagination. 

Scott :  The  Fortunes  of  Nigel.     Time  of  James  I. 
Stott :  Peveril  of  the  Peak.     Time  of  Charles  II. 
Thackeray  :   Henry  Esmond.     Time  of  Marlborough. 
Thackeray  :  The  Virginians.     Later  Eighteenth  Century. 

A  great  number  of  the  spirited  stories  of  Dumas  and  Weyman 
deal  with  this  period. 


CHAPTER   I 

ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  THE  STUARTS, 
THE  PURITAN  REVOLUTION,  AND  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF 
THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  MONARCHY  UNDER  WILLIAM  III. 

Reign  of  James  I.,  i6oj-2^. 

Elizabeth  was  succeeded  upon  her  death  by  the  next  James,  the  first 
heir  to  the  crown,  James  I.,  the  son  of  Mary  Stuart.  Great  Britain 
James,  who  was  already  king  of  Scotland,  united  in  his  per- 
son for  the  first  time  the  sovereignty  over  the  kingdoms  con- 
stituting Great  Britain.  But  it  must  be  understood  that 
the  union  of  England  and  Scotland  which  the  accession  of 
James  established,  was  for  the  present,  merely  what  we  may 
call  a  personal  union  ;  that  is,  the  accession  of  James  gave 
the  two  countries  a  common  sovereign,  but  not,  as  yet, 
common  laws  and  institutions. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  at  a  time  when  the  character  of  Character  of 
the  sovereign  greatly  influenced  the  government,  such  a  ^ 
man  as  James  should  have  been  on  the  throne.  Physically 
he  was  anything  but  regal — a  bent,  shuffling  figure,  ^'  a 
king  of  shreds  and  patches" — and  morally  he  was  totally 
devoid  of  force  and  fibre.  But  he  had  intelligence,  or 
rather  information,  and  his  exhibition  of  a  pedantic  knowl- 
edge drew  from  Henry  IV.  of  France  the  derisive  compli- 
ment :  *'  James  I.  is  the  wisest  fool  of  Christendom."  All 
this  might  have  made  him  harmless,  if  he  had  not  had  the 
most  exaggerated  idea  of  his  office,  and  the  obstinacy  to 
insist  upon  that  idea  on  all  occasions.     He  formulated  his 

163 


1 64 


Modern  Europe 


The  favorable 
conditio^  of 
the  kingdom. 


James  alien- 
ates the  Puri- 
tans. 


theory  as  follows :  '  *  As  for  the  absolute  prerogative  of  the 
crown,  that  is  no  subject  for  the  tongue  of  a  lawyer.  It  is 
atheism  to  dispute  what  God  can  do  ;  so  it  is  presumption 
in  a  subject  to  dispute  what  a  king  can  do,  or  say  that  a 
king  cannot  do  this  or  that."  Such  a  theory  had  been 
maintained  in  England  by  certain  popular  monarchs — EHz- 
abeth  herself  had  held  no  other — but  how  if  the  monarch 
were  unpopular  and  systematically  alienated  his  people  ? 

The  accession  of  James  occurred  at  a  favorable  moment. 
The  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  (1588)  had  established 
the  authority  of  England  without.  Within,  the  Catholics 
were  a  waning  party,  and  the  Anglican  Church,  which  was 
alone  recognized  by  the  law  (Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uni- 
formity, 1559),  had,  under  Elizabeth,  acquired  solidarity 
and  respect.  The  Puritan  party  within  the  Church,  which 
inclined  toward  Calvinistic  views,  was  by  no  means  violent, 
and  could  be  conciliated  by  a  few  concessions  taking  account 
of  their  aversion  to  the  surplice,  to  genuflections,  and  similar 
externals  of  the  service.  The  question  was  whether  James 
would  show  the  breadth  of  mind  which  the  solution  of  this 
question  demanded. 

Shortly  after  his  accession,  in  1604,  he  called  a  confer- 
ence at  Hampton  Court  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  with 
the  Puritans  the  feasibility  of  Church  innovations.  Un- 
fortunately he  lost  his  temper  on  that  occasion,  and  with- 
out cause,  flared  up  against  the  Puritan  ministers.  He 
groundlessly  denounced  the  Puritans  as  enemies  of  epis- 
copacy, and  pledged  himself  with  undue  emphasis  to  the 
support  of  that  system  of  church  government.  ^'  No  bishop, 
no  king,"  was  the  substance  of  his  harangue.  All  this  was 
very  foolish ;  for,  apart  from  the  folly  of  making  the  main- 
tenance of  the  monarchy  depend  on  the  maintenance  of  the 
bishops,  it  was  impolitic  to  impute  to  the  Puritans  a  pro- 
gramme which  they  had  never  supported,  but  which  would 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century        165 

from  now  on  appear  more  and  more  attractive.  Once  more 
let  us  remember  that  the  Puritans  at  this  time  were  far  from 
being  revokitionary ;  that  they  accepted  the  Church  of 
England  and  the  principle  of  episcopacy ;  and  that  they  de- 
manded only  a  few  liberties,  chiefly  respecting  ceremonial 
non-essentials.  It  was,  therefore,  extremely  unwise  on  the 
part  of  the  king  to  dismiss  the  Puritan  petitioners  gruffly, 
and  to  order,  shortly  after  this  declaration,  the  removal 
from  their  livings  of  those  of  the  clergy  who  refused  to  con- 
form to  every  minute  prescription  of  the  Anglican  service. 

The  Catholic  party,  too,  had  expected  an  alleviation  of  The  gunpow- 
its  position  through  James's  accession.  When  it  found  that 
nothing  was  done  to  make  its  lot  lighter,  certain  desperate 
men  resolved  upon  vengeance.  They  deliberately  planned 
to  destroy  the  whole  English  government,  king,  Lords,  and 
Commons,  by  one  gigantic  stroke.  They  heaped  gunpow- 
der in  barrels  in  the  Parliament  cellars,  and  set  November 
5,  1605 — the  day  of  the  opening  in  state  of  a  new  session — 
for  the  monstrous  crime.  Suspicion,  however,  had  been 
awakened  through  a  letter  of  warning,  sent  by  a  conspirator 
to  a  friend  who  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Lords; 
and  luckily,  on  the  very  eve  of  the  planned  disaster,  Guy 
Fawkes,  the  hardiest  of  the  conspirators,  was  discovered 
keeping  watcti  among  the  explosives.  He  and  his  helpmates 
were  arrested  and  executed,  and  the  English  people  were 
once  more  confirmed  in  that  intense  hatred  and  distrust  of 
the  Catholic  faith  which  long  remained  the  first  article  of 
their  religious  and  political  programme.  The  gunpowder 
plot  had  the  effect  of  attaching  such  extreme  odium  to  the 
Catholic  party  that  it  greatly  dwindled  and  may  almost  be 
left  out  of  consideration  in  the  future  as  an  element  of  the 
population. 

The  troubles  with  the  Puritans  and  Catholics  were  not   The  rights  of 

king  and  Par- 

the  only  difficulties  which  James's  pohcy  raised  about  him.    liament. 


66 


Modern  Europe 


The  question 
of  who  con- 
trolled the  na- 
tion's purse 


Increasing  se- 
verity of  the 
Parliament. 


He  managed  also  to  quarrel  with  his  Parliament.  In  the 
England  of  that  time  the  rights  of  king  and  of  Parliament 
were  not  accurately  determined,  and  the  king's  prerogative 
was  necessarily  vague.  It  must  be  remembered  that  there 
was  no  written  constitution,  and  that  the  legal  basis  for 
every  political  action  was  found  in  a  mass  of  frequently  con- 
flicting customs  and  statutes.  Under  these  circumstances 
a  monarch  could  do  a  great  many  things  which  a  Parlia- 
ment might,  on  the  ground  of  some  ancient  ordinance,  dis- 
pute, but  which  a  Parliament,  if  well-disposed  in  general 
toward  the  monarch,  and  if  convinced  that  the  particular 
act  was  wise,  would  not  dispute. 

Now  James's  finances  fell  into  disorder, — a  sore  matter 
with  every  government.  Probably  a  little  clever  leading 
of  Parliament  would  have  brought  that  body  around  to  a 
complete  and  wholesome  reform  of  the  finances,  but  James 
preferred  in  his  high-handed  and  stupid  way  to  order  the 
levy  of  a  number  of  questionable  taxes  on  his  own  author- 
ity, and  to  trust  to  luck  that  Parliament  would,  after  a  little 
haggling,  yield  him  the  point.  In  this  he  was  mistaken. 
Parliament  after  Parliament  allowed  itself  to  be  dissolved 
rather  than  take  his  dictation  in  this  matter.  And  what  was 
the  result  ?  What  originally  had  been  merely  a  practical 
business  question,  was  soon  raised  to  a  matter  of  principle, 
and  the  irritated  Commons  began  to  ask  themselves  if  the 
king  had  a  right  to  raise  any  kind  of  tax  at  all  without  their 
consent.  In  this  way  the  question,  who  controlled  the 
nation's  purse,  was  definitely  placed  before  the  people,  and 
an  answer  would  have  to  be  found  sooner  or  later,  whether 
by  peaceful  adjustment  or  by  war. 

James  and  his  Parliaments,  therefore,  quarrelled  through- 
out his  reign,  with  the  result  of  an  increasing  irritation  on 
both  sides.  In  the  year  162 1  the  spite  of  the  Commons 
reached  the  point  of  a  savage  attack  on  the  whole  adminis- 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         167 

tration,  the  incident  culminating  in  the  famous  impeach- 
ment of  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Francis  Bacon.  The  great 
philosopher  stood,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  near  the  king,  and 
it  was  felt  that  a  blow  which  struck  the  servant  would  not 
be  lost  upon  the  master.  Evidence  having  been  adduced  that 
Bacon,  the  highest  judge  of  the  realm,  had  received  fees  The  trial  of 
which  practically  amounted  to  bribes,  he  was  condemned  to 
imprisonment  and  to  a  heavy  money  fine.  James  made  no 
attempt  to  shield  his  minister  from  justice,  but  he  honor- 
ably stepped  in  to  preserve  the  greatest  thinker  of  his  time 
from  the  worst  consequences  of  the  verdict.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  Bacon  was  guilty  of  illegal  practices,  but,  as 
he  himself  argued  in  his  defence,  they  were  the  common 
custom  of  the  day.  And  it  may  be  asserted  that  these  prac- 
tices would  not  have  met  with  condemnation  if  the  Parlia- 
ment had  not  desired  a  scapegoat  to  satisfy  its  deep  irrita- 
tion against  the  king.  The  trial  of  Bacon  is  symptomatic 
of  a  new  attitude  of  the  Parliament  toward  the  king,  and 
therein  lies  its  constitutional  importance. 

To  his  unpopularity  James's  foreign  policy  contributed.  James's  policy 
His  one  notion  was  peace.  That  was  not  bad  in  itself,  but 
James  contrived  an  impractical  course.  He  tried  to  asso- 
ciate himself  with  Spain,  arguing  that  an  understanding 
between  the  leading  Protestant  and  the  leading  Catholic 
power  would  secure  peace  to  the  world.  Unfortunately  the 
Spaniards  only  hoodwinked  him,  and  the  English  became 
thoroughly  disaffected  by  this  policy  of  knuckling  down  to 
their  ancient  foe.  Nevertheless  the  king  persisted  in  his 
course.  In  16 18  he  had  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  one  of  the 
popular  Elizabethan  heroes,  executed  for  venturing  to  attack 
a  Spanish  village  in  South  America.  And  when,  in  that 
same  year,  the  Thirty  Years'  War  broke  out  in  Germany, 
instead  of  assisting  his  son-in-law,  Frederick  of  the  Palati- 
nate, who  was  elected  king  of  Bohemia,  he  remained  an 


of  peace. 


1 68 


Modern  Europe 


The  journey 
to  Madrid. 


English  colo- 
nization. 


Ireland. 


America. 


indifferent  spectator,  in  the  hope  that  Spain  would  some- 
how kindly  interfere  in  his  relative's  behalf.  In  the  end 
his  son-in-law  was  driven  from  Germany.  But  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  all  the  world  was  arming  James  was  still  talk- 
ing peace. 

In  1623  he  resorted  to  a  last  measure  to  attach  Spain  to  his 
policy.  He  sent  his  son  Charles,  under  the  direction  of  his 
favorite,  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  to  Madrid,  to  effect  a 
union  of  the  two  royal  houses  in  the  form  of  a  marriage  be- 
tween the  Infanta,  the  sister  of  the  Spanish  king,  and  the  heir 
of  the  English  throne.  Charles  and  Buckingham  took  the 
journey  in  a  romantic  disguise  which  suited  their  temper 
and  their  youth.  But  the  exactions  of  the  court  of  Madrid 
were  such  that  they  soon  left  in  disgust.  James  thereupon 
did  what  he  should  have  done  long  ago.  He  resolved  to 
make  war  upon  Spain,  but  died  before  anything  had  been 
done  (1625). 

It  is  a  relief  to  turn  from  this  chapter  of  mistaken  efforts 
to  the  more  productive  field  of  James's  colonial  enterprises. 
In  16 10  occurred  the  first  settlement  of  Ulster,  the  north- 
eastern province  of  Ireland,  with  English  and  Scotch  colo- 
nists. Before  James's  time  Ireland  had  given  to  monarch 
after  monarch  nothing  but  trouble,  and  James  hoped  that 
his  scheme  of  colonization  would  bring  the  unruly  island 
under  his  control.  However,  in  order  to  carry  out  his  pol- 
icy he  had  to  confiscate  the  land  and  crowd  the  natives 
back  into  the  marshes.  This  act  of  violence,  which  the  Irish 
took  to  be  nothing  less  than  a  crime,  stamped  an  indelible 
hatred  of  the  English  in  their  souls.  In  the  new  world, 
another  and  an  altogether  more  happy  colonization  was  un- 
dertaken. In  1607  the  first  permanent  English  colony  was 
planted  in  Virginia,  and  in  1620  the  first  band  of  Separatists, 
a  party  of  radical  Puritans,  who  had  separated  themselves 
from  the  Anglican  Church  and  h?id  at  first  taken  refuge 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         169 

from  persecution  in  Holland,  set  out  across  the  Atlantic. 
From  the  valiant  labors  of  themselves  and  their  Puritan 
successors  in  the  wilderness  of  Massachusetts  developed 
in  time  a  prosperous  colony,  and  sprang  the  germs  of  that 
society  which  became  the  United  States  of  America.  Fur- 
thermore, in  161 2,  the  East  India  Company,  which  had  India, 
been  chartered  under  Elizabeth,  secured  its  first  foothold 
in  India.  Thus,  the  victories  of  Elizabeth's  reign  having 
cleared  the  way,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  planted  under  James 
the  seeds  of  its  expansion  in  the  east  and  in  the  west,  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  English  commercial  supremacy 
of  our  day. 

Reign  of  Charles  I. ,  162^-4^- 

Charles  I.,  who  succeeded  James  in  the  year  1625,  was  Character  of 
outwardly  very  unlike  his  father.  His  face,  familiar  to  us  ^^  ^^' 
from  Van  Dyck's  frequent  reproductions,  was  handsome, 
and  his  manner  kingly.  He  was  also  intelligent  and  con- 
scientious, but  the  trait  of  Stuart  obstinacy  in  him  spoiled 
all.  Regarding  the  royal  prerogative,  he  shared  the  views 
of  his  father,  and  believed,  like  James,  that  a  Parliament 
ought  not  to  be  conciliated,  but  cowed. 

The  two  main  difficulties  created  by  James  bore  imme-   Struggle  be- 
diate  and  dangerous  fruit  in  the  new  reign.     James  had   me^t^and^^'^' 
roused  the  slumbering  Puritanism  of  his  subjects  and  had   a'hfad"™^^  *° 
raised  the  question  with  his  Parliament  as  to  who  controlled 
taxation.      Charles,  by  persisting  in  James's  course  of  hos- 
tility to  Puritans  and  Parliament,  succeeded,  in  an  incredi- 
bly short  time,  in  developing  the  prejudices  of  his  people 
into  a  violent  opposition  to  himself,  and  in  rousing  the  Com- 
mons, who  had  been  servilely  docile  under  Elizabeth  and, 
even  while  protesting,  had  been  deeply  respectful  under 
James,  to  the  point  where  they  plainly  put  the  question  :  who 
was  sovereign  in  England,  Parliament  or  king  ? 


I^O 


Modern  Europe 


Charles  falls 
out  with  I  he 
Commons  in 
m  tters  of  re- 
ligion. 


Charles  falls 
out  with  his 
Parliament 
over  the  war 
with  Spain. 


In  the  very  year  of  his  accession,  Charles  married  Hen- 
rietta Maria,  a  sister  of  Louis  XIII.  of  France.  This  mar- 
riage with  a  CathoHc  was  extremely  unpopular  in  England. 
It  was  rendered  doubly  so  by  the  fact  that  Charles  had 
entered  upon  an  agreement  with  Louis  to  offer  the  English 
Catholics  his  protection.  Over  this  concession  to  a  hostile 
faith  the  Parliament  straightway  flew  into  a  passion.  It 
grew  still  more  excited  when  the  fact  became  known  that  the 
king  had  lavished  favors  upon  certain  Anglican  churchmen 
who  had  publicly  attacked  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  then  held 
by  the  majority  of  Englishmen.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  king  meant  well  enough,  and  certainly  he  was  far  from 
the  thought  of  betraying  the  cause  of  Protestantism ;  but 
his  religious  liberalism  bore  the  character  of  laxity  in  the 
minds  of  the  severe  believers  of  that  day  and  aroused  gen- 
eral suspicion.  The  Commons,  in  consequence,  adopted 
an  uncompromising  Protestant  policy.  They  began  to  lay 
more  and  more  stress  on  those  features  of  the  Anglican 
Church  which  were  emphatically  Protestant,  and  less  and 
less  on  those  which  had  been  retained  from  the  Catholic 
estabhshment.  Thus  while  the  doctrines  aroused  their  en- 
thusiasm, they  grew  increasingly  indifferent  about  the  prac- 
tices and  ceremonies.  From  these  latter,  however,  the 
king,  who  had  a  fondness  for  outward  show,  would  abate 
no  jot  or  tittle.  Monarch  and  Commons,  as  a  result, 
drifted  farther  and  farther  apart  on  questions  of  religion ; 
and  under  the  unconscious  action  of  resentment,  the  people 
began  falling  away  from  their  own  ceremonial  Anglican 
traditions  and  edging  over  to  Puritan  ground.  Protestant- 
ism had  only  lately  become  the  sovereign  faith  of  England, 
and  now  a  conflict  was  threatened  in  its  bosom. 

Not  satisfied  with  alienating  his  people  by  arousing 
their  religious  animosity,  the  king  also  alienated  them 
by  his  political  conduct.     The  war  with  Spain  furnished 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century        171 

him  the  occasion.  He  had  inherited  it  from  his  father, 
and  was  bent  on  carrying  it  on.  The  ParHament  was 
not  unwilHng  to  give  him  support — for  the  war  with  Spain 
was  popular — but  to  such  grants  of  money  as  it  made, 
it  attached  the  condition  that  the  war  be  carried  on  effec- 
tively and  under  good  leaders.  This  condition  Charles,  to 
his  misfortune,  neglected.  He  intrusted  the  conduct  of 
the  war  to  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  once  his  father's 
favorite  and  now  his  own,  and  the  duke  of  Buckingham, 
who  was  handsome  and  dashing,  but  unfit  for  weighty  busi- 
ness, reaped  nothing  but  disaster.  Two  expeditions,  one  di- 
rected against  the  Spanish  Netherlands  and  the  other  against 
Cadiz,  ended  in  utter  failure.  Thereupon,  the  Commons 
refused  to  give  the  king  more  money  until  the  duke  was 
removed  from  the  council,  and,  as  the  king  refused  to  allow 
himself  to  be  dictated  to  in  the  matter  of  his  ministers,  there 
ensued  a  deadlock  which  Charles  tried  in  vain  to  break  by 
the  repeated  dissolution  of  Parliament. 

In  the  year  1627  matters  grew  worse.  The  king,  not  Buckingham 
content  with  one  war  upon  his  hands,  allowed  himself  with  France, 
to  be  driven  into  a  war  with  France,  in  behalf  of  the  French 
Huguenots  who  were  being  besieged  by  Richelieu  in  Ta 
Rochelle.  As  the  Huguenots  were  hard  pressed,  and  there 
was  no  other  way  of  getting  money  for  a  rescuing  expedi- 
tion, Charles  adopted  a  perilous  device :  he  forced  the 
rich  to  make  him  a  loan.  But  the  sums,  thus  illegally 
extorted,  brought  no  blessing.  A  relief  expedition,  which 
sailed  for  Rochelle  under  Buckingham,  failed  as  miserably  . 

as  the  attack  upon  Cadiz.  As  a  result  ignominy  in  the 
war  with  France  was  added  to  the  ignominy  already  in- 
curred in  the  war  with  Spain. 

The  Parliament  which  met  in  1628  was  therefore  justified   The  Petition 
in  its  outbreak  of  wrath  against  the  Government.     Before   °     ^^ 
granting  another  penny  it  insisted  that  the  grievances  of  the 


172 


Modern  Europe 


Murder  of 

Buckingham, 

1628. 


Tunnage  and 
Poundage. 


nation  be  redressed.  In  a  document  called  the  Petition 
of  Right,  it  made  a  formal  assertion  of  its  claims.  The 
Petition  of  Right  declared  forced  loans  illegal,  and  main- 
tained that  no  tax  whatever  could  be  levied  without  the  con- 
sent of  Parliament.  Further,  it  condemned  a  number  of 
practices,  such  as  arbitrary  arrests  and  billeting  of  troops 
upon  householders,  in  which  the  king  had  lately  indulged 
as  if  they  were  a  part  of  his  royal  prerogative.  The  Peti- 
tion of  Right  was  firmly  announced  to  be  a  prerequisite  to 
all  further  concessions  by  the  Parliament.  Charles,  who 
had  two  wars  on  his  hands  and  no  money,  had  to  give  way. 
The  Petition  of  Right,  celebrated  as  a  renewal  of  Magna 
Charta,  was  accepted  and  became  the  law  of  the  land  (1628). 

However,  the  Petition  of  Right  did  not  dispose  of  the 
internal  troubles.  The  obnoxious  Buckingham  was  not  dis- 
missed ;  the  excitement,  which  had  permeated  all  classes, 
did  not  subside.  Proof  of  the  degree  of  hatred  which  the 
party  strife  had  reached  was  offered  soon  enough.  While 
a  new  expedition  to  Rochelle  was  fitting  at  Portsmouth,  a 
fanatic  patriot,  John  Felton  by  name,  stabbed  the  duke  of 
Buckingham  to  death  (1628).  The  king  grieved  over  the 
loss  of  his  favorite,  but  his  policy  remained  obstinately  un- 
changed. And  this  at  a  moment  when  a  struggle  was 
threatening  with  his  Parliament  greater  than  any  that  had 
preceded ! 

It  was  the  practice  in  England  to  vote  certain  customs 
duties,  called  Tunnage  and  Poundage,  at  the  beginning  of 
a  reign,  for  the  duration  of  the  king's  life.  These  formed 
the  most  considerable  income  of  the  treasury,  and  without 
them  the  government  could  not  be  carried  on.  By  an 
oversight,  the  Commons  had  not  voted  Tunnage  and 
Poundage  for  the  life  of  Charles,  and  now  that  they  had  a 
grievance  against  him,  they  resolved  not  to  vote  this  tax 
until  they  had  received  in  return  fresh  assurances  of  good 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century        173 

government.  Charles  grew  highly  excited  over  their  con- 
duct, which  to  him  seemed  mere  bickering,  and  in  the 
session  of  1629  the  conflict  between  king  and  Commons 
broke  out  anew.  After  a  few  unfruitful  negotiations,  The  crisis  of 
Charles  determined  to  dissolve  Parliament ;  but  the  mem-  ^  ^^' 
bers  getting  wind  of  it,  passed,  before  the  adjournment, 
amidst  a  scene  unparalleled  for  excitement  in  English  Par- 
liamentary annals,  a  number  of  resolutions,  affirming  that 
the  levy  of  Tunnage  and  Poundage  was  illegal  and  that 
whosoever  paid  it  was  a  traitor. 

Thus  over  the  question  of  Tunnage  and  Poundage,  war   Definite 
was  virtually  declared  between  king  and  Parliament.     The   t^eg^  king 
long   rivalry  of  the   two    parties    left    little  hope  of    an   ^g^j^^"^^^^" 
amicable  adjustment  between  them.     One  or   the  other, 
king  or  Parliament,  therefore,  was  likely  to  win,  and  which- 
ever won  would  be  the  real  ruler  of  England. 

For  the  next  eleven  years  (1629-40)  the  king  had  the  Eleven  years 
upper  hand.  The  extensive  prerogative  acquired  by  his  parliament, 
predecessors  gave  him  at  first  a  distinct  advantage  over  the 
ambitious  Commons.  Among  other  privileges,  he  was  not 
obliged  to  assemble  Parliament  at  all,  unless  he  wanted  a 
new  subsidy,  and  as  anything  was  better  than  having  Parlia- 
ment again,  he  now  resolved  to  get  along  with  the  revenues 
he  had.  But  this  plan  necessitated  economy,  and,  above  all, 
the  termination  of  the  expensive  wars  with  France  and 
Spain.  Before  the  end  of  1630,  therefore,  Charles  had 
made  his  peace  with  these  two  powers.  His  outlook  now 
was,  on  the  whole,  exceedingly  hopeful.  Tunnage  and 
Poundage,  although  condemned  by  the  Commons,  was  reg- 
ularly paid  into  the  exchequer  by  a  people  who  were  not 
yet  ready  to  renounce  their  king,  and  Tunnage  and  Pound- 
age, taken  together  with  a  number  of  other  taxes  which 
had  been  regularly  provided,  were  found  quite  sufficient 
for  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  administration. 


174 


Modern  Europe 


Wentworth 
and  Laud. 


Laud's 
Church 
policy. 


Charles's  chief  advisers  during  the  eleven  years*  interlude 
of  practically  absolute  government  were  Thomas  Went- 
worth, better  known  by  his  later  title  of  earl  of  Strafford, 
and  William  Laud,  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  As  the 
king's  person  was  still  regarded  with  the  old  sacred  respect, 
all  the  violences  committed  in  Church  and  state  during  the 
period  of  rule  without  a  Parliament  were  laid  at  the  door  of 
these  two  men.  Them  and  not  the  king  the  people  held  to 
be  responsible  for  this  unwelcome  reign  of  '^  thorough," 
and  directed  against  them,  as  the  years  came  and  went 
without  a  Parliament,  a  bhnd  passion  of  hatred. 

Laud  stood  for  the  tendency  in  the  English  Church  which 
emphasized  dignity  and  ceremony — the  same  tendency 
with  which  the  king  had  already  identified  himself.  In  fact, 
it  was  because  of  his  own  love  of  ceremony  and  uniformity 
that  the  king  had  bestowed  his  favor  upon  the  inflexible 
and  earnest  Churchman,  and  had  rapidly  promoted  him  from 
post  to  post.  Finally,  in  the  year  1633,  Charles  appointed 
Laud  archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  primate  of  all  England. 
Therewith  Laud  was  in  a  position  to  put  his  and  the 
king's  ecclesiastical  convictions  into  practice.  By  means  of 
parochial  visitations  and  other  measures,  he  soon  imposed 
upon  all  ministers  of  the  Church  a  strict  adherence  to  the 
forms  of  the  Prayer  Book,  and  did  not  even  hesitate  to  in- 
troduce a  {^"^  new  ceremonial  innovations  on  his  own 
authority.  Thus  the  communion  table  was  surrounded  by 
an  iron  railing,  giving  the  chancel  something  of  the  appear- 
ance of  a  Catholic  altar.  As  a  result,  the  Puritan  ministers 
either  resigned  or  were  dismissed,  and  the  Puritan  element 
of  the  population  was  practically  ejected  from  the  Church. 
Even  those  Englishmen  who  submitted  to  the  new  regime 
hated  the  unwisdom  which  thus  drove  a  wedge  into  the 
Christian  body. 

Wentworth  was  a  man  of  far  greater  intellectual  powers 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century        175 
than  either  Laud  or  Charles.     His  position  in  public  life  The  character 

-.,,-.  .      .         1  of  Wentworth. 

seems  to  have  been  grounded  on  the  honest  conviction  that 

a  king  who  governs  well  is  better  than  a  babbling,  dis- 
traught Parliament.  Doubtless,  therefore,  being  one  of 
Charles's  favorite  advisers,  he  urged  the  king  to  take  a  firm 
stand  against  Parliament  and  people,  but  it  is  quite  erro- 
neous to  make  him  responsible  for  all  the  ill-advised  meas- 
ures which  followed  the  dissolution  of  1629.  For  as  early 
as  1633  he  was  sent  as  Lord-Deputy  to  Ireland,  and  could 
thenceforth  exercise  Only  an  indirect  influence  on  English 
affairs. 

Certainly  Wentworth  cannot  be  charged  with  the  great 
blunder  committed  in  connection  with  ship-money,     ^ip-   The  ship- 
money  was  a  tax  collected  by  Charles  in  the  year  1634,  for  SinanceTof 
the  purpose  of  creating  a  navy.     The  ordinary  method  of  ^^34  and  1635. 
getting  supplies  for  such  an  end  would  have  been  to  ap- 
peal  to    Parliament.     That  the  king  shrank   from  doing. 
So  he  hit  upon  a  subterfuge.     In  former  times  monarchs 
had,  when  the  country  was  in  danger,  ordered  the  counties 
bordering  on  the  sea  to  furnish  ships.     Charles  reenacted 
this  statute  in  the  year  1634,  with  a  certain  show  of  legal- 
ity; but  in  the  year   1635,  utterly  regardless  of  legahty, 
he  ordered  the  inland  counties  to  contribute  money  to  the 
same  end. 

Plainly,  Charles's  process  in  the  matter  of  ship-money  The  case  of 
was  a  breach  of  the  Petition  of  Right.  More  than  that,  it  ^^3^^"^^"' 
ran  counter  to  the  most  ancient  privileges  of  Parliament  and 
the  whole  spirit  of  English  history.  The  protest  against 
the  royal  exaction  was  therefore  general,  and  when  a 
country  gentleman,  John  Hampden  by  name,  preferred, 
rather  than  pay  his  assessment,  to  suffer  arrest  and  trial, 
he  made  himself  the  hero  of  the  hour.  The  court,  when  the 
case  came  up,  decided  against  Hampden,  but  so  wide  was 
the  disaffection  following  upon  Hampden's  trial  that  it  re- 


1& 


Modern  Europe 


Charles  falls 
out  with  the 
Scots. 


The  First 
Bishops'  War, 
1639. 


The  Second 
Bishops'  War, 
1640. 


quired  only  an  occasion  and  England  would  show  that  the 
loyalty  which  had  bound  her  for  ages  to  her  royal  house,  had 
suffered  fatal  impairment. 

That  occasion  was  furnished  by  Scotland.  In  the  year 
1637,  Charles,  with  his  usual  neglect  of  popular  feeling, 
ventured  to  introduce  into  Presbyterian  Scotland  the  Prayer 
Book  and  certain  of  the  Episcopal  practices  of  England. 
The  answer  of  the  Scots  to  this  measure  was  to  rise  in  in- 
surrection. They  drew  up  a  national  oath  or  Covenant,  by 
which  they  pledged  themselves  to  resist  to  the  utmost  all 
attempts  at  changing  their  religion.  Their  unanimity  and 
enthusiasm  gave  them  an  irresistible  power.  In  view  of  it 
Charles  hesitated ;  then  to  gain  time  he  proposed  negoti- 
ations ;  but  finally,  when  he  found  there  was  nothing  left 
to  do  but  to  submit  or  fight,  he  declared  war. 

There  follows  the  campaign  of  1639  against  the  Scotch 
Covenanters,w  hich  is  known  as  the  First  Bishops'  War.  It 
was  a  miserable  fiasco.  Owing  to  want  of  funds,  the  king 
led  northward  a  mere  ill-equipped  rabble,  and  when  he 
arrived  upon  the  scene,  found  himself  compelled  to  sign  a 
truce.  Between  his  Scotch  and  English  subjects,  whom  he 
had  alike  alienated,  his  position  was  now  thoroughly  humil- 
iating. In  order  to  avenge  himself  upon  the  Scots,  he 
required  effective  money  help  from  England,  and  effective 
money  help  from  England  involved  calling  a  Parliament. 
In  one  or  the  other  direction  he  had,  therefore,  to  make 
concessions.  Charles  fought  a  hard  battle  with  his  pride, 
but  finally,  feeling  that  the  Scotch  matter  was  the  more 
pressing,  he  summoned  a  Parliament  (1640). 

Thus  the  long  period  of  government  without  a  Parlia- 
ment had  come  to  an  end.  When,  however,  the  Parlia- 
ment, kno^vn  as  the  Short  Parliament,  began,  instead  of 
voting  moneys,  to  remind  the  king  of  the  nation's 
grievances,  Charles  flamed  up  once  more  and  dismissed  it. 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         177 

Once  more,  in  despite  of  his  lack  of  funds,  he  conducted 
a  campaign,  known  as  the  Second  Bishops'  War,  against 
the  Covenanters  (1640).  But  when  the  second  experiment 
had  failed  as  badly  as  the  first,  he  had  to  acknowledge  him- 
self finally  beaten. 

In  the  autumn  of  1640  he  summoned  another  Parliament, 
which  he  knew  he  should  not  be  able  to  send  home  at  his 
will.  The  Parliament  which  met  has  received  from  his- 
tory the  name  of  the  Long  Parliament,  and  is  the  most  The  Long 
famous  legislative  body  in  English  annals.  It  sat  for  al-  1^0!^""^^  ' 
most  two  decades,  witnessing,  and  itself  initiating,  the 
transformation  of  England. 

The  Long  Parliament  took,  as  soon  as  it  was  installed,  the 
reins  into  its  hands.  First  the  past  had  to  be  avenged. 
Accordingly  Strafford  and  Laud  were  impeached  and  exe-  The  victory  of 
cuted.^  Next  every  institution  {e.g. ,  the  court  of  Star  Cham-  ^  ommons. 
ber)  which  had  proved  irksome,  every  tax  {e.g.,  ship- 
money)  which  the  king  had  made  serve  his  despotic  ends, 
was  abolished.  Thus  the  whole  constitution  was  practical- 
ly remodelled ;  Parliament  declared  everything,  the  king 
nothing.  It  was  the  Parliament's  answer  to  the  king's  des- 
potic rule.  Could  a  king  of  Charles's  temperament  sub- 
mit for  long  to  such  a  terrible  abasement  ? 

For  a  year  the  king  bore  with  the  altered  circumstances. 
But  he  was  watching  for  his  chance,  and  the  first  division   Division  in  the 
among  the  Commons  was  his  signal  to  strike.     The  Com-      o"^"^'^"^- 
mons  had  agreed  admirably  on  all  the  political  questions 
at  issue  between  themselves  and  the  king.     Differences  ap- 
peared only  when  the  religious  question  was  presented. 

The  sentiment  against  the  Episcopal  system  had  made 


*  The  technical  proceeding  against  Strafford  was  not  called  an  im- 
peachment, but  a  bill  of  attainder.  He  was  executed,  in  spite  of  Charles's 
promise  to  protect  him,  May,  1641.  "  Put  not  your  trust  m  princes," 
were  his  last  words.     Laud  was  not  executed  until  1645. 


178 


Modern  Europe 


Charles  sides 
with  the  Epis- 
copalians. 


Attempted 
arrest  of  the 
five  members. 


The  king 
unfurls  his 
banner  at 
Nottingham. 


The  advan- 
tage is,  at  first, 
with  the  king. 


a  great  deal  of  progress  of  late  years,  but  a  strong  con- 
servative element  still  supported  it.  Under  the  circum- 
stances Puritans  and  Episcopalians  in  the  Commons  fre- 
quently came  to  hard  words,  and  naturally,  as  soon  as  this 
opening  in  the  hitherto  solid  phalanx  of  the  opposition 
was  apparent,  Charles  took  advantage  of  it.  He  threw  in 
his  lot  with  the  Episcopalians,  and  so  once  more  rallied 
about  him  a  party. 

»  In  January,  1642,  he  calculated  that  he  was  strong  enough 
to  strike  a  blow  at  the  predominance  of  Parliament,  and 
attempted  to  arrest  the  five  leaders,  Pym,  Hampden,  Hazel- 
rigg,  Holies,  and  Strode,  in  full  Parliamentary  session. 
But  the  attempt  failed,  and  Charles,  always  a  little  tim- 
orous, had  not  the  courage  to  brave  the  situation  which  he 
had  himself  created.  When  London  rose  in  arms  Charles 
fled  to  York. 

Thus  the  two  questions  of  Puritanism  and  of  taxation 
in  which  the  king  had  taken  sides  against  the  majority  of 
his  subjects,  led  to  civil  war.  In  August,  1642,  Charles, 
unfurling  his  banner  at  Nottingham,  bade  all  loyal  Eng- 
lishmen rally  to  their  king.  The  Parliament  in  its  turn 
gathered  an  army  and  prepared  to  take  the  field. 

The  parties  about  to  engage  each  other  seemed  to  be 
very  equally  matched.  The  king's  party,  called  the 
Cavaliers,  held  the  north  and  the  west,  York  and  Oxford 
being  their  chief  towns,  while  the  adherents  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, known  derisively  as  Roundheads,  for  the  reason 
that  many  of  them  cropped  their  hair  close,  held  the  south 
and  the  east,  with  I^ondon  for  their  centre.  Neither 
side  was  well  furnished  with  troops,  but  the  fact  that 
the  slashing  country  gentlemen  crowded  into  the  king's 
service  gave  the  royal  side,  at  first,  the  advantage.  In  the 
early  campaigns  the  army  of  the  Parliament  was  steadily 
driven    back,   and  on  one  occasion   London,   the   Parlia- 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  179 

mentary  centre,  almost  fell  into  the  king's  hands.     It  was 

really  not  until  the  year  1644  that  the  Parliament  began 

to  develop  an  efficient  army.     At  the  same  time  there  rose   Oliver 

into  prominence  the  man  who  was  destined  to  turn  the      ^°"^^^  • 

tables  on  the  king  and  bring  the  war  to  a  conclusion — 

Oliver  Cromwell. 

Ohver  Cromwell  is  one  of  those  surprising  characters 
who  sum  up  in  themselves  a  whole  period  of  their  nation's 
history.  He  was  a  country  gentleman  of  the  east  of  Eng- 
land, whose  life  had  become  bound  up  in  the  Puritan 
cause.  With  firmness  and  strength,  he  coupled  an  ex- 
traordinary amount  of  practical  good  sense,  which  en- 
abled him  to  see  things  exactly  as  they  were.  When  every- 
body else  was  in  consternation  over  the  victories  of  the 
king,  and  undecided  what  to  do  next,  he  went  straight  to 
the  core  of  the  military  problem,  with  which  the  Parlia- 
ment was  vainly  wrestling.  He  thus  expressed  himself  to 
Hampden  :  ^^  Your  troops  are,  most  of  them,  old,  decayed 
serving  men  and  tapsters.  .  .  .  Their  troops  are  gentle- 
men. Do  you  think  that  the  spirit  of  such  base  fellows 
will  ever  be  able  to  encounter  gentlemen  ?  You  must  get 
men  of  spirit  or  else  you  will  be  beaten  still."  His  prac- 
tical eye  had  seen  the  thing  needful,  and  his  practical 
sense  urged  him  to  do  it,  unmindful  whether  the  babbling 
Parliament  supported  him  or  not.  Gradually  he  collected 
about  himself  a  special  troop  of  men  of  his  own  mind — 
Puritans  who  had  their  hearts  in  the  cause ;  and  this  troop 
soon  won  for  itself  the  grim  title  of  Cromwell's  Ironsides. 

In   the  campaign  of    1644   Cromwell's    Ironsides    first   Marston 
prominently  showed  their  metal.     They  contributed  largely      ^^^'  ^  ^' 
to  the  great  victory  of  Marston  Moor  over  Prince  Rupert,^ 


1  Prince  Rupert,  known  as  Rupert  of  the  Rhine,  was  the  son  of  Eliza- 
beth, the  daughter  of  James,  who  had  married  Frederick  of  the  Palati- 
nate. 


i8o 


Modern  Europe 


The  army 
reforms. 


The  decisive 
campaign  of 
1645.   Naseby. 


Alliance  be- 
tween Scots 
and  Parlia- 
ment. 


the  king's  nephew  and  the  dashing  leader  of  his  horse.  The 
battle  of  Marston  Moor  lost  the  king  his  hold  upon  the 
north.  At  the  battle  of  Newbury,  which  took  place  a  few 
months  later,  it  is  probable  that  the  king  would  have  been 
crushed  entirely  if  Cromwell  had  not  been  thwarted  by  his 
sluggish  and  incapable  superiors. 

That  winter  Cromwell  fiercely  denounced  in  Parliament 
the  lax  method  of  carrying  on  war  which  had  hitherto 
prevailed,  and  so  convincing  were  his  criticisms  that  the 
Commons  now  carried  out  a  number  of  sweeping  reforms. 
By  means  of  two  ordinances,  called  the  Self-denying  Ordi- 
nance and  the  New  Model,  the  army  was  completely  reor- 
ganized. By  the  Self-denying  Ordinance  the  incapable  Par- 
liamentarians gave  up  the  commands  they  held  to  trained 
officers,  and  by  the  New  Model  the  spirit  of  Cromwell's 
Ironsides  was  introduced  into  the  whole  army.  The  spring 
of  1645  found  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  at  the  head  of  the  re- 
formed forces  and  Cromwell  in  command  of  the  horse. 

The  effect  of  the  change  made  itself  felt  at  once ;  the 
campaign  of  1645  proved  decisive.  At  Naseby,  in  the 
heart  of  England,  the  king  made  his  last  formidable  effort 
(June  14).  The  gallant  Rupert  plunged,  as  usual,  through 
the  squadrons  of  horse  opposite  him,  but  his  reckless  pursuit 
took  him  miles  away  from  the  battle-field,  and  before  he 
could  return,  Cromwell  had  broken  the  king's  left  and 
centre  and  won  the  day.  f'or  almost  a  year  the  king  still 
held  out,  vainly  hoping  relief  from  this  or  that  small  cir- 
cumstance. In  May,  1646,  judging  that  all  was  over,  he 
surrendered  to  the  Scots,  who  occupied  the  English  north. 

The  Scots  had  joined  the  English  Parliament  against  the 
king  in  the  year  1643.  They  had  treated  the  first  sugges- 
tions of  alliance  with  indifference,  and  when  they  finally  con- 
sented to  join  the  English,  they  made  a  very  hard  condition. 
They  demanded  that   their  own   Presbyterian  system   of 


England  in  the-  SeventeentJi  Century        i8l 

church  government  be  also  established  in  England.  The 
stiff  Puritan  opinion  in  the  Parliament  revolted  at  first  at 
the  thought  of  a  foreign  dictation,  but  as  the  majority  were 
well  disposed  to  the  Presbyterian  system,  and  the  danger 
from  the  king  was  pressing,  the  alliance  between  Scots  and 
Parliament  was  formally  approved  on  the  proposed  basis. 

However,  a  handful  of  commoners  standing  for  religious  Presbyterians 
tolerance  protested  against  the  treaty  to  the  last.  To  them  dents, 
the  uniformity  of  belief  enforced  by  the  Presbyterian  Kirk 
was  exactly  as  hateful  as  the  uniformity  of  service  demanded 
by  the  Anglican  Church.  But  being  a  mere  handful,  they 
would  have  been  overridden  without  a  word  if  they  had 
not  received  support  from  a  very  important  quarter :  their 
religious  views  had  the  approval  of  Cromwell  and  his  Iron- 
sides. Under  the  circumstances  the  majority  was  obliged 
to  proceed  with  caution,  especially  while  the  war  contin- 
ued and  the  troops  had  to  be  kept  in  good-humor.  Thus 
the  contention  slumbered  for  a  time,  but  as  soon  as  the 
battle  of  Naseby  had  been  won  and  the  enemy  scattered, 
the  quarrel  between  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Indepen- 
dents, as  the  advocates  of  tolerance  were  called,  assumed  a 
more  serious  aspect. 

When  the  king  surrendered  to  the  Scots  he  was  well  in-  The  calcula- 
formed  of  these  differences  of  opinion  among  the  victors,  ting, 
and  hoped,  in  his  small-minded  way,  to  find  his  profit  in 
them.  Let  the  army,  representing  the  Independents  and 
their  view  of  tolerance,  only  fall  to  quarreUing  with  the 
majority  of  the  Parliament,  representing  the  Presbyterians 
and  their  uncompromising  system  of  uniformity,  and  his, 
the  king's,  alliance  would  prove  invaluable. 

Herein  Charles  calculated   both  well   and   ill.     In  the   The  Parlia- 
year  1647  the  Scots  surrendered  him,  on  the  payment  of  the  army. 
a  good  price,  to  the  Parliament.     The  Presbyterians  there- 
upon, having  him  in  their  power,  tried  to  hurry  through  a 


1 82  Modern  Europe 


settlement  with  the  captive  monarch.  Utterly  neglectful 
of  the  wishes  of  the  army,  they  promised  Charles  to  restore 
him  if  he  would  only  give  his  royal  assent  to  the  Presby- 
terian Establishment.  But  as  soon  as  the  army  heard  of 
these  secret  and  dishonest  machinations  of  the  parliamentary 
majority,  it  was  filled  with  indignation  and  rose  to  defeat 
them  by  force  of  arms  (1648).  So  far  Charles  had  calcu- 
lated well.  Largely  through  his  own  clever  policy  of  delay, 
a  new  civil  war  had  broken  out  among  his  enemies. 
The  second  In  the  result,  however,  Charles's  petty  calculations  shot 

1648  ^^^'  wide  of  the  mark.     Although  the  Parliament  was  supported 

by  the  Presbyterian  Scots  and  by  bands  of  hastily  organized 
royalists,  it  was  no  match  for  the  victors  of  Naseby.  In  a 
few  weeks  Fairfax  and  Cromwell  had  laid  their  enemies  at 
their  feet. 
Pride's  i)urge,  Then  the  army  returned  lo  London  to  have  vengeance 
^  "*  ■  upon   what  it  called   the  bloody  authors  of  the  struggle, 

the  Presbyterian  majority  of  the  Commons  and  the  king. 
On  December  6,  1648,   a  troop  under   the   command   of 
Colonel  Pride  expelled   the  Presbyterian  members,  to  the 
number  of  about  one  hundred,  from  the  Hou.se.     No  more 
than  fifty  or  sixty  commoners  retained  their  seats,  and  these 
were  the  mere  tools  of  the  army.     Of  course  they  consid- 
ered themselves  as  good  as  any  English  legislative  body 
that  had  ever  sat,  but  the  people  fixed  upon  them  the  con- 
temptuous term  of  the  Rump  Parliament. 
The  execution        Next  the  army  turned  upon  the  king,  firmly  resolved  to 
January  30',       Subject  him  to  a  trial.     As  there  were  no  legal  provisions 
*^9-  in  the  constitution  for  such  a  step,  it  became  necessary  to 

resort  to  illegality,  and  by  an  act  of  the  now  servile  Parlia- 
ment there  was  created  a  special  High  Court  of  Justice 
to  try  the  king.  The  end,  of  course,  was  to  be  foreseen. 
The  army,  with  Cromwell  at  its  head,  would  not  have  pro- 
ceeded to  such  extremes  of  violence  if  it  had  not  been 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         183 

profoundly  convinced  that  with  this  king,  whose  every  act 
was  a  subterfuge,  whose  every  word  an  equivocation,  there 
could  be  no  peace.  The  High  Court  of  Justice  found  the 
king  guilty  of  treason,  and  on  January  30,  1649,  he  was 
executed  on  a  scaffold  before  his  own  palace  of  Whitehall. 
He  had  never  been  shaken  in  the  conviction  that  the  right, 
during  the  whole  course  of  the  civil  war,  had  been  with 
him,  and  he  died  bravely  in  that  belief.  . 

The  king's  death  had  been  preceded  by  the  dissolution  The  break- 
of  the  House  of  Lords  because  of  the  refusal  of  that  body  to  constitution, 
take  the  army's  side.  The  English  constitution,  therefore, 
was  now  a  wreck  ;  the  king  and  Lords  had  disappeared, 
the  Commons  were  a  fragment.  The  power  lay  solely  with 
the  array,  and  the  burning  question  of  the  day  was  :  Would 
the  revolutionists  of  the  army  be  able  to  build  a  new  con- 
stitution along  new  lines  ? 

For  eleven  years  the  leaders  of  the  army  attempted  to  The  main  idea 
realize  their  ideal  of  government.  That  ideal  was  born  of  Revolutionists! 
the  deep  religious  conviction  that  every  man  must  indeed 
be  a  Christian,  but  that  he  must  be  allowed  to  worship 
God  after  his  own  fashion.  In  consequence,  Cromwell 
and  his  friends  desired  a  government  of  upright  Puritan 
men,  who  tolerated  every  belief  but  Popery.  Unfortunate- 
ly the  vast  majority  of  contemporary  Englishmen  were  roy- 
alists or  Presbyterians  and  abominated  the  men  in  power. 
The  experiment  of  a  Puritan  government,  therefore,  had 
sooner  or  later  to  end  in  failure. 

The  Commonwealth  and  the  Protectorate,  164^-60. 

On  the  death  of  the  king,  the  Rump  Parliament  voted   The  Common- 
that  England  was  a  Commonwealth,  and  appointed,  pro- 
visionally, a  Council  of  State  to  act  as  the  executive  branch 
of  the  government. 

There  was  work  enough  ahead  for  the  young  Republic. 


wealth. 


1 84 


Modern  Europe 


Cromwell  sub- 
dues Ireland 
(1649^  and 
Scotland 
(1651). 


Dismissal  of 
the  Rump  Par- 
liament, 1653. 


In  Ireland  and  Scotland  Charles  II.  had  been  proclaimed 
king.  The  Council  of  State  insisting  that  these  kingdoms 
should  not  be  allowed  to  go  a  separate  way  in  politics, 
Cromwell  was  despatched  against  them.  In  1649  he  brought 
the  Irish  to  terms  by  means  of  bloody  massacres  at  Drogheda 
and  Wexford.  Then  a  rule  of  force  was  established  such 
as  even  Ireland  had  not  seen  before,  and  a  great  part  of 
the  land  was  confiscated  for  the  benefit  of  the  conquerors. 
This  done,  the  victor  turned  to  Scotland.  At  Dunbar 
(1650)  Cromwell's  soldiers,  whose  tempers  were  like  the  steel 
with  which  they  smote,  scattered  one  Scotch  army;  and 
when  a  second  army,  with  Charles  II.  in  its  midst,  struck 
across  the  border  in  the  hope  of  stirring  up  an  English  re- 
bellion, Cromwell  starting  in  pursuit  met  it  at  Worcester, 
in  the  heart  of  England,  and  won  the  crowning  victory  of 
his  life  (165 1 ).  Charles  II.  escaped,  after  various  romantic 
adventures,  to  the  Continent ;  but  the  Scots  came  to  terms, 
and  thus  the  authority  of  the  Commonwealth  was  estab- 
lished throughout  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

Now  that  England  had  peace,  the  question  of  a  per- 
manent government  became  more  pressing.  Everybody 
clamored  for  a  settlement.  Only  the  Rump  Parliament 
was  in  no  hurry,  and  the  fifty  or  sixty  members  who  com- 
posed it  clung  to  office,  finding  power  a  delightful  thing. 
Naturally,  practical  men,  like  Cromwell  and  his  soldiers, 
watched  the  delays  of  the  legislators  with  growing  impa- 
tience. In  April,  1653,  the  great  leader,  despairing  of  good 
through  such  a  Parliament,  resolved  to  have  done  with  it. 
He  invaded  the  Parliament  with  a  detachment  of  troops  and 
ordered  the  members  home.  "  Come,  come,"  he  shouted 
in  indignation,  "■  we  have  had  enough  of  this.  It  is  not  fit 
you  should  sit  here  any  longer."  Thus  the  last  fragment  of 
the  old  constitution  had  vanished. 

A  new  Parliament,  freely  elected  by  the  nation,  would 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century        185 

have  been  one  solution  of  the  difficulties  which  now  con- 
fronted Cromwell.  But  such  a  Parliament  would  imme- 
diately have  called  back  the  king,  and  Cromwell  was  ready- 
to  try  all  other  means  before  he  declared  that  the  great 
cause,  which  to  his  fervid  mind  was  also  that  of  God,  had 
failed.  He  therefore  nominated  an  assembly  of  Puritan 
partisans  to  act  as  Parliament.  In  an  opening  speech  he 
told  them  that  they  were  called  because  they  were  godly 
men.  But  although  they  doubtlessly  meant  well,  they  were 
inexperienced  and  crotchety.  The  people  refusing  to  take 
them  other  than  humorously,  derisively  called  them  Bare-  Barebones' 
bones'  Parliament,  from  one  Praise-God  Barebones  who  sat  ig^y,^"^^"*' 
among  them.  Luckily,  after  a  few  weeks  the  nominees 
recognized  their  own  unfitness  and  resigned  (December, 

1653)- 

Some  government  had  to  fill  up  the  gap,  and  so  Oliver  Oliver,  Protec- 
Cromwell  now  accepted  a  constitution,  called  the  Instru- 
ment of  Government,  which  was  drawn  up  by  his  officers, 
and  which  named  him  Lord  Protector.  By  the  Instrument 
of  Government,  Oliver,  the  Lord  Protector,  together  with  a 
Council  of  State,  was  to  exercise  the  executive,  while  a  Par- 
liament of  a  single  house,  from  which  all  partisans  of  the 
king  were  excluded,  was  to  perform  the  legislative  func- 
tions of  government.  The  new  attempt  came  nearer  than 
any  of  the  others  to  being  a  solution  of  the  political  dif- 
ficulties into  which  England  had  been  plunged ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, even  this  partial  success  was  due  solely  to  the 
fact  that  the  new  constitution  practically  placed  in  control 
an  entirely  efficient  man. 

The  five  years  (1653-58)  of  Oliver's  rule  as  Protector 
were,  however,  full  of  difficulties.  His  first  Parliament 
insisted  on  revising  the  Instrument  of  Government.  As 
that  was  tantamount  to  calling  the  whole  settlement  in  ques- 
tion, Oliver  dissolved  the  Parliament  in  anger  (January, 


i86 


Modern  Europe 


The  Protecto- 
rate is  internal- 
ly a  failure. 


England  re- 
fuses to  accept 
toleration. 


The  Protecto- 
rate a  success 
abroad. 


1655).  For  a  while  now  he  ruled  without  a  Parliament. 
There  were  frequent  attempts  upon  his  life,  republican  con- 
spiracies, royalist  risings,  the  cares  and  annoyances  insep- 
arable from  power.  Oliver  confessed  with  sorrow  that  "  it 
was  easier  to  keep  sheep  than  to  govern  men."  But  his 
brave  spirit  was  undaunted  and  he  met  every  difficulty  as  it 
arose.  As  it  was  better  to  rule  with  the  nation  than  with- 
out, he  called  a  second  Parhament  in  the  year  1656,  and 
with  this  he  got  along  more  smoothly  for  a  while.  The  tra- 
ditional English  conservatism  governed  this  assembly,  and  it 
tried  to  get  back  upon  the  lines  of  the  old  constitution.  It 
even  offered  to  make  Oliver  king.  But  he  declined  the  honor 
without  regret,  and  when  the  old  difficulties  sprang  up  again, 
owing  to  the  tendency  of  the  Parliament  to  meddle  with 
the  Instrument  of  Government,  Oliver  reproachfully  dis- 
solved it  like  its  predecessor  (February,  1658). 

In  all  this  time  the  great  principle  of  toleration  for 
which  Oliver  stood  had  made  no  progress.  Oliver's  idea 
had  been  to  give  all  Protestant  Christians,  whether  they 
were  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  or  Puritans,  the  protec- 
tion of  the  law.  But  the  fierce  religious  temper  of  the  time 
hindered  the  majority  from  seeing  any  right  outside  of  their 
own  faith,  or  feeling  any  obligation  to  put  up  with  any 
other.  Oliver,  like  all  men  who  are  ahead  of  their  time, 
was  left  without  support.  The  animosities  of  his  antago- 
nists, as  well  as  of  his  followers,  even  forced  him  before  long 
to  trench  upon  his  own  principles.  In  1655  he  began  per- 
secuting those  who  held  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
and  long  before  his  end  he  had  the  bitter  conviction  that 
the  government  of  the  Puritan  Commonwealth  rested  on 
no  single  principle  that  had  taken  root  in  the  nation,  and 
that  it  lived  entirely  by  the  will  and  vigor  of  one  man. 

If  Oliver  was  thus  reaping  failure  at  home,  he  added 
triumph  to  triumph  abroad.    From  1652  to  1654  there  had 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         187 

been  a  war  with  the  Dutch  caused  by  the  famous  Naviga- 
tion Act.  The  Dutch  had  in  the  seventeenth  century  got 
the  carrying  trade  of  the  world  into  their  hands  ;  by  means 
of  the  Navigation  Act  (1651)  the  ParHament  planned  to 
bring  part  of  it  to  England.  The  Act  ordained  that  im- 
ported goods  be  carried  in  English  ships,  or  else  in  ships 
belonging  to  the  country  in  which  the  goods  were  produced. 

The  Dutch  declared  war  rather  than  suffer  this  injury,  and   The  first 

,^       ,^  1  r     •   ^      •  Dutch  war. 

under  their  admiral  Van  Tromp  won  a  number  of  victories. 

But  the  great  English  admiral,  Blake,  restored  the  English 

prestige,  and  finally  the  Dutch  had  to   accept  what  they 

could  not  alter. 

Soon  after  Oliver  entered  into  an  alliance  with  France  War  with 
(1655)  against  Spain.  Jamaica,  in  the  West  Indies,  was  ^^'"" 
taken  from  Spain  by  an  Enghsh  fleet,  and  Dunkirk,  ^  in  the 
Spanish  Netherlands,  after  a  French-English  victory  over 
the  Spaniards  on  the  Dunes,  was  surrendered  to  Cromwell's 
representatives.  Since  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  the  name  of 
England  had  not  enjoyed  such  respect  as  it  did  now. 
Oliver's  arm  reached  even  to  the  Alps,  and  at  his  command 
the  duke  of  Savoy  ceased  from  persecuting  his  Protestant 
subjects. 

Thus  to  the  end  the  Protector  held  the  rudder  firmly.    The  death  of 
But  his  health  was  broken  by  his  great  responsibility,  and    Septembers,' 
on  the  third  day  of  September,  1658,  shortly  after  a  great   ^^^^' 
storm  had  swept  over  the  island,  he  passed  away.     It  had 
been  his  '-'fortunate  day" — that  was  his  own  word — the 
day  of  his  birth  and  of  the  great  victories  of  Dunbar  and 
Worcester  ;  and  now,  it  was  the  day  too  of  his  death.     His 
last  prayer,    in  which  breathes  all  his  Christian  fervor,  all 
his  honesty  and  chari  ty ,  has  been  recorded  for  us .     ' '  Lord , ' ' 
ran  a  part    of  it,    *'Thou    hast    made   me,    though   very 


1  Dunkirk  was  held  only  till  1662,  when  Charles  II.  sold  it  to  France. 


i88 


Modern  Europe 


Anarchy. 


The  Resto- 
ration, May, 
1660. 


unworthy,  a  mean  instrument  to  do  Thy  people  some 
good.  .  .  .  Pardon  such  as  desire  to  trample  upon 
the  dust  of  a  poor  worm,  for  they  are  Thy  people  too. ' ' 

Cromwell's  death  was  followed  by  a  year  of  pure  anarchy. 
As  a  genuinely  popular  government,  supporting  itself  upon 
the  will  of  the  majority,  had  never  existed,  the  republic 
may  be  said  to  have  passed  away  with  the  man  who  made  it. 
For  awhile,  however,  Richard  Cromwell,  Oliver's  common- 
place son,  ruled  as  Protector  (to  April,  1659);  then  the 
soldiers  tried  their  talents;  and  finally,  even  the  Long 
Parliament  appeared  again  upon  the  scene.  Clearly,  after 
all  these  shifts,  Charles  II.  was  the  only  choice  left ;  it  was 
but  necessary  that  some  strong  man  should  act  in  the  absent 
king's  behalf  and  order  would  be  restored.  The  strong 
man  was  found  in  General  George  Monk.  Monk,  one  of 
Cromwell's  most  capable  lieutenants,  refusing  to  close  his 
eyes  longer  to  the  real  situation,  determined  to  promote  the 
restoration  of  the  Stuarts  and  the  reinvigoration  of  the  old 
constitution.  Charles  II.  was  merely  asked  to  promise  a 
general  pardon.  This  Charles  did  in  a  declaration^  made 
at  Breda,  in  Holland,  and  when,  a  month  later,  he  landed 
at  Dover  (May,  1660),  he  was  received  with  universal  shouts 
of  welcome.  Some  days  before  a  new  Parliament  had 
formally  restored  the  ancient  constitution.  It  voted  that 
'*  the  government  is,  and  ought  to  be,  by  king.  Lords  and 
Commons." 


The  Resto- 
ration is  a 
change  in  hfe 
and  manners. 


The  Restoration.      Charles  II.  (^1660-8 f)  and  Ja7nes  II 

Charles  II.  was  one  of  the  most  popular  monarchs  Eng- 
land ever  had  ;  but  his  popularity  was  due  not  so  much  to 
his  talents  as  to  his  vices.     To  understand  this  we  must 


>  His  general  pardon  was  later  ratified  by  Parliament,  only  the  regicides 
(members  of  the  court  which  had  condemned  Charles  I.)  being  excluded 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         189 

remember  that  the  Restoration  is  a  complex  movement.  It 
marks  not  merely  the  break-down  of  the  Puritan  experiment 
of  government,  but  also  a  revulsion  from  the  severe  and 
colorless  scheme  of  life  which  the  Puritans  imposed  upon 
society.  Like  one  who  had  thirsted  a  long  while,  the 
Englishman  of  the  Restoration,  therefore,  threw  himself 
greedily  upon  splendor  and  distractions.  Now  Charles  II. 
had  lived  long  in  France,  and  there  his  light  nature  had 
drunk  its  fill  of  the  gayety  and  licentiousness  which  were 
then  the  reigning  influences  in  the  country  of  Louis  XIV. 
Upon  his  restoration,  Charles  naturally  became  the  apostle 
of  French  manners  in  England,  and  it  was  largely  under 
his  patronage  that  English  life  assumed  a  frivolous  charac- 
ter. Profligacy  soon  became  the  fashion  of  the  day,  and 
the  king  added  to  his  constitutional  function  of  sovereign 
the  social  function  of  master  of  the  revels.  It  was  because 
of  this,  and  because  he  was  witty  and  amiable,  in  short,  a 
good  fellow,  that  he  was  popular.  His  subjects  called  him 
**The  Merry  Monarch." 

Charles  had  a  good  deal  of  intelligence,  but  no  energy.  Political  in- 
In  the  end  his  resolutions  inevitably  succumbed  to  his  in-  c?Ee7  ° 
dolence.  His  pleasures  went  before  everything  else,  and 
when  a  conflict  threatened  with  his  subjects,  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  giving  way,  with  the  joke,  that,  whatever 
happened,  he  did  not  care  to  go  again  upon  his  travels. 
So  weak-kneed  a  monarch  was  not  likely  to  imperil  the 
Restoration. 

Now  that  the  monarchy  was  restored,  it  was  as  if  the   The  constitu- 
revolution  had  not  taken  place,  for  the  constitutional  ques-   tions  buried 
tions  at  issue  between  king  and  Parliament  were  left  exactly   t^^^poranly. 

from  it.  Thirteen  of  these  were  executed.  The  Restoration  further  sul- 
lied its  beginnings  by  a  mean  vengeance  upon  the  body  of  a  great  man. 
The  dead  Oliver,  whom  living  no  royalist  had  dared  to  confront,  was 
dragged  from  his  tomb  at  Westminster  Abbey  and  hanged  like  a  thief  at 
Tyburn. 


I90 


Modern  Europe 


The  Cavalier 
Parliament. 


Its  religious 
intolerance. 


The  Corpora- 
tion Act,  1661. 


The  new  Act 
of  Uniformity, 
1662. 


as  they  had  been  before  the  war  broke  out.  But  even 
in  the  year  1660  it  was  clear  that,  unless  the  English  people 
forgot  their  history,  these  questions  would,  sooner  or  later, 
have  to  be  adjusted,  and  then  there  would  be  a  renewal  in 
some  form  or  other  of  the  civil  struggle.  For  the  present, 
however,  the  quarrel  over  the  measure  of  the  king's  prerog- 
ative was  entirely  forgotten  in  the  rejoicing  over  the  resto- 
ration of  order  and  security. 

The  Cavalier  Parliament,  as  the  Parliament  elected  in 
1 66 1  and  allowed  to  hold  power  for  eighteen  years,  was 
significantly  called,  completely  expressed  this  reactionary 
sentiment  of  the  country:  it  was  more  royal  than  the 
king.  One  of  its  first  acts  was  to  vote  that  no  one  could 
lawfully  take  arms  against  the  sovereign.  Little  likelihood 
existed,  therefore,  that  this  body  would  stir  up  the  old 
political  differences  between  the  monarch  and  his  Commons. 

With  regard  to  the  old  religious  differences,  which  had 
contributed  so  largely  to  the  war  between  king  and  Par- 
liament, they  abruptly  took  a  different  form.  There  was 
in  the  Cavalier  Parhament  only  one  opinion  :  the  Church  of 
England  and  nothing  but  the  Church  of  England.  The 
first  Legislature  of  the  Restoration  was  in  fact  so  extrava- 
gantly Anglican  that  the  king  himself  became  alarmed. 
And  well  he  might  have  been  troubled,  in  view  of  the  very 
severe  measures  which  this  Parliament  passed  against  its 
religious  adversaries. 

In  the  year  1661  the  Parliament  enacted  the  Corporation 
Act,  which  provided  that  every  one  who  held  an  office  in 
a  municipal  corporation  would  have  to  take  the  oath  of 
non-resistance  to  the  king,  and  receive  the  sacrament  ac- 
cording to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  meas- 
ure, of  course,  turned  all  non-Anglicans  out  of  the  city 
governments.  The  next  year  (1662)  there  followed  a  new 
Act  of  Uniformity,  by  which  every  clergyman  and  school- 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         191 

master  who  did  not  accept  every  prescription  of  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  was  expelled  from  his  living.  Hun- 
dreds of  the  Presbyterian  and  Puritan  clergy  resigned  their 
cures  rather  than  assent,  and  from  now  on  men  of  these 
faiths,  together  with  the  adherents  of  the  other  sects  which 
had  lately  arisen,  such  as  the  Baptists  and  the  Quakers, 
were  embraced  by  the  common  name  of  Dissenters. 

In  the  religious  history  of  England  this  formal  and  definite  The  Dissent- 
ejection  of  the  Puritan  element  from  the  Church  marks  a 
notable  mile-stone.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Puri- 
tans in  general  had  not  wished  to  separate  from  the  national 
Church,  but  desired  rather  to  so  modify  its  forms  that  it 
might  ''comprehend"  them.  From  now  on  all  hope  of 
' '  comprehension ' '  was  given  up.  The  Dissenters,  of  what- 
ever color,  accepted  their  exclusion  from  the  Church  of 
England  as  an  irrevocable  fact,  and  henceforth  directed 
all  their  efforts  upon  acquiring  toleration  for  their  own 
distinct  forms  of  worship. 

But  the  Cavalier  Parliament  was  the  last  body  in  the  The  Convent- 
world  to  give  ear  to  such  a  request  for  religious  liberty. 
As  in  its  opinion,  the  proper  way  to  treat  Dissenters  was 
to  suppress  them,  it  simply  continued  its  anti- toleration 
measures.  In  the  year  1664  it  passed  the  Conventicle  Act, 
by  which  all  meetings  of  Dissenters  for  religious  purposes 
were  punished  with  fines  culminating  in  transportation ; 
and  a  year  later  (1665)  there  followed  the  Five  Mile  Act, 
by  the  terms  of  which  no  Dissenting  minister  was  allowed 
to  reside  within  five  miles  of  a  borough,  town,  or  any 
place  where  he  had  once  held  a  cure. 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  Cavalier  Parliament  would   The  real  ene- 

1  •      •         1  1  .1  -1.1  11  nny  is  Catholi- 

have  msisted  on  the  national  creed  with  such  vehemence,    cism. 
if  it  had  not  been  persuaded  that  toleration  granted  to  the 
Dissenters  would  open  a  loop-hole  for  the  Catholics.     And 
just  then  the  suspicion  against  Catholicism  was  stronger  in 


192  Modern  Europe 


the  land  than  ever,  because  of  the  secret  machinations  of 
the  court  in  behalf  of  this  faith.  Had  the  facts  that  were 
only  whispered  in  the  palace-passages  been  known  at  West- 
minster, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  religious  legisla- 
tion would  have  been  even  more  stringent  than  it  was ;  for 
Charles,  although  afraid  to  publish  the  truth,  had  not  long 
after  the  Restoration,  secretly  embraced  Catholicism. 
Foreign  A  monarch  who  identified  himself  so  little  in  religious 

po  icy.  matters  with  his  people  was  not  likely  to  serve  them  in  for- 

eign affairs.  In  fact,  his  guidance  of  England  was  weak 
and  unintelligent,  being  determined  simply  by  aversion  to 
the  Dutch  and  affection  for  Louis  XIV.  of  France. 

The  commercial  rivalry  between  the  Dutch  and  English 
had  lately  become  very  intense;  moreover,  the  two  na- 
tions laid  conflicting  claims  to  several  colonies.     In  1664 
The  First  the  First  Dutch  war  of  the  Restoration  broke  out,  and  was 

the^Restora-°  fiercely  continued  for  three  years  (1664-67).  The  two 
tion,  1664-67.  nations  again  proved  worthy  adversaries,  as  in  the  time  of 
Cromwell,  and  although  neither  acquired  a  conspicuous 
advantage  over  the  other,  the  Dutch  at  one  time  sailed  up 
the  Thames  and  blockaded  London.  However,  this  suc- 
cess was  more  of  a  disgrace  for  England  than  a  positive 
calamity,  and  when  peace  was  signed  the  Dutch  were  forced 
to  make  a  sacrifice.  They  ceded  their  American  colony. 
New  Amsterdam,  which  was  thereupon  renamed  New  York, 
in  honor  of  the  duke  of  York,  the  king's  brother. 

Before  the  close  of  the  war  London  was  visited  by  a 
memorable  succession  of  calamities.  In  the  year  1665  a 
The  plague  terrible  plague  is  calculated  to  have  swept  away  nearly 
100,000  people.  There  was  nothing  anomalous  about  this 
visitation,  for  similar  ravages  of  disease  were  not  uncommon 
in  Europe  at  that  time,  owing  to  the  overcrowding  of  the 
cities  and  their  insufficient  sanitary  arrangements.  But  the 
plague  did  not  end  London's  troubles.     Hardly  had  it  van- 


and  the  fire. 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         193 

ished  when  a  fire  broke  out  which  destroyed  the  whole 
City  (1666).^  Although  the  suffering  from  this  new  ca- 
lamity was  great  at  first,  the  fire  proved  a  blessing  in  the 
end,  for  London  was  rebuilt  on  a  broader,  handsomer  scale, 
and  infections  like  the  plague  never  again  ravaged  the 
population. 

This  was  the  time  in  European  politics  of  the  ascendancy  The  friendship 
of  France.  The  leading  fact  of  the  general  situation  was  chades^  ^" 
that  Louis  XIV.  was  planning  to  extend  his  territory  at  the 
expense  of  his  neighbors.  The  logical  policy  of  England 
as  the  rival  of  France  would  have  been  to  support  the  vic- 
tim against  the  aggressor  ;  but  Charles  was  no  patriot  and 
allowed  himself  to  be  determined  by  personal  motives. 
Naturally  his  riotous  life  kept  him  involved  in  constant 
money  difficulties.  Fortunes  were  flung  away  on  entertain- 
ments or  were  lavished  on  courtiers  and  mistresses.  To  get 
money,  therefore,  became  Charles's  first  object  in  life,  and 
Louis  XIV. ,  who  was  always  a  clever  manager,  was  per- 
fectly willing  to  oblige  his  brother  of  England,  if  he  could 
by  this  means  buy  England's  aid,  or,  at  least,  her  neu- 
trality in  the  conflicts  he  anticipated.  Now  the  French 
king  began  his  aggressions  in  the  year  1667,  by  invading 
the  Spanish  Netherlands  ;  but  after  taking  a  few  towns 
he  was  forced  to  desist,  chiefly  owing  to  the  energetic  pro- 
test of  the  Dutch.  No  wonder  that  Louis  resolved  to  have  Treaty  of 
revenge  on  this  nation  of  traders.  By  the  secret  Treaty  of  ^°'^^^'  ^^^o- 
Dover  (1670)  he  won  over  Charles  by  a  handsome  sum  to 
join  him  in  his  projected  war  against  the  Dutch ;  and 
Charles,  in  his  turn,  stipulated  to  avow  himself  a  Catholic 
and  to  accept  aid  from  Louis  in  case  his  subjects  on  the 
news  of  his  conversion  revolted  against  him. 

When,  in  the  year  1672,  everything  was  at  length  ready, 


The  business  heart  of  London  is  known  by  this  name. 


194 


Modern  Europe 


Second  Dutch 
War    of    the 
Restoration. 


The  Declara- 
tion of  Indul- 
gence. 


The  Test  Act, 
1673. 


Louis  and  Charles  fell  upon  the  Dutch,  engaging  in  what  in 
England  is  known  as  the  Second  Dutch  War  of  the  Resto- 
ration. Just  as  the  war  was  about  to  break  out,  Charles, 
not  yet  daring  to  announce  himself  a  Catholic,  published  a 
decree  of  toleration,  the  so-called  Declaration  of  Indul- 
gence, which,  overriding  the  statutes  of  Parliament,  set 
Catholics  and  Dissenters  free.  Such  a  declaration  invites 
the  sympathy  of  us  moderns,  but  it  is  necessary  to  remem- 
ber in  judging  it  that  its  motives  were  impure.  This  the 
people  knew,  and  when  Parliament  met,  it  insisted,  before 
it  would  vote  supplies  for  the  war,  on  the  king's  withdraw- 
ing his  Declaration.  When  this  was  done  (1673),  the 
war  had  lost  its  interest  for  Charles,  and  as  the  English 
people  were  learning  to  feel  more  and  more  strongly  that 
their  real  enemy  was  the  French  and  not  the  Dutch, 
Charles  further  gave  way  to  popular  pressure  and  concluded 
peace  (1674).  Thus  the  Treaty  of  Dover  came  to  nothing, 
except  in  so  far  as  it  involved  the  Dutch  in  another  heroic 
combat  for  their  life  and  liberty.  So  stubborn  was  their 
defence  under  their  Stadtholder,  William  III.  of  Orange, 
that  Louis  XIV.  finally  followed  Charles's  example  and 
withdrew  from  the  struggle  (Peace  of  Nimwegen,  1678). 

But  the  Parliament  was  not  satisfied  with  having  forced 
the  king  to  withdraw  his  Declaration  of  Indulgence.  To 
further  secure  the  country  against  the  secret  machinations 
of  the  court,  it  added  a  crowning  act  to  its  intolerant  re- 
ligious legislation — the  Test  Act  (1673).  The  Corpora- 
tion Act  (1661)  had  already  purged  the  municipalities  of 
non- Anglicans ;  by  the  Test  Act^  the  exclusion  was  ex- 
tended to  officeholders  of  any  kind.  The  king's  own 
brother,  the  duke  of  York,  an  avowed  Catholic,  was  among 


»  The  Test  Act  is  so  named  because  every  man,  before  taking  office, 
was  tested  W\^  regard  to  his  faith  by  his  willingness  or  unwillingness  to 
take  the  sacrament  as  prescribed  by  the  Church  of  England. 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         195 

the  victims  of  this  act  and  was  forced  to  resign  his  post 
of  Lord  High  Admiral. 

But  the  terror  of  a  CathoHc  regime  was  not  yet  de- 
stroyed. The  distrust  that  had  grown  up  on  the  rehgious 
question  between  the  reigning  family  and  the  people  was  The  Popish 
so  intense  that  it  led  the  blinded  Protestants  into  the  most  ^^°*'  ^^^^* 
ludicrous  extravagances.  One  of  them  is  known  as  the 
''  Popish  Plot"  (1678).  A  certain  Titus  Gates,  a  man  of 
a  very  bad  reputation,  told  a  long  story  before  a  magistrate 
to  the  effect  that  he  had  discovered  a  conspiracy  on  the  part 
of  the  Catholics  to  institute  in  England  a  second  Saint 
Bartholomew.  Although  Gates' s  story  was  palpably  ab- 
surd, it  was  instantly  beheved,  and  as  a  result  of  the 
frantic  agitation  which  seized  all  England  a  number  of 
prominent  Catholics  were  confined  in  the  Tower,  and  a 
paragraph  was  added  to  the  Test  Act,  by  which  the  Cath- 
olics were  barred  from  the  House  of  Lords,  the  only  place 
where  they  had  not  hitherto  been  disturbed. 

Charles  died  in  the  year  1685,  after  a  reign  of  twenty- 
five  years.      Gn  his  deathbed  he  did  what  he  had  been  afraid   The  death  of 
to  do  during  his  life  :  he  confessed  hin;iself  a  Catholic.  Sss^^^^  "'' 

Charles's  reign  is  marked  by  an  advance  in  the  polit- 
ical life  of  the  nation  which  deserves  sharp  attention. 
Under  him  there  began  to  be  formed  for  the  first  time 
parties  with  a  definite  programme  and  something  like  a 
permanent  organization.  It  is  evident  that  this  was  a  sig-  Whigs  and 
nificant  step  toward  the  guidance  and  control  of  political  °"^^' 
opinion  within  and  without  Parliament.  The  parties  formed 
became  known  as  Whigs  and  Tories,^  and  the  chief  ques- 
tion on  which  they  split  was  the  question  of  toleration.  The 
Tories,  who    were   the   country  gentlemen,   stood   for  no- 

1  These  names  were  originally  taunts.  Tory  is  derived  from  the  Irish 
and  signifies  robber.  Whig  comes  from  Whiggam,  a  cry  with  which 
the  Scotch  peasants  exhorted  their  horses  Applied  as  a  party  name,  it 
was  intended  to  convey  the  idea  of  a  sneaking  Covenanter. 


196  Modern  Europe 


toleration  for  Dissenters;  the  Whigs,  on  the  other  hand, 
whose  ranks  were  filled  up  from  the  great  nobles  and  the 
middle  classes,  wished  to  promote  this  act  of  justice; 
both  parties,  being  equally  Protestant,  agreed  in  denying 
toleration  to  the  Catholics.  Whigs  and  Tories  from  now 
on  play  a  role  of  increasing  importance  in  the  history  of 
England. 

James  11.  {1685-88). 

James  is  un-  James  11. ,  who  succeeded  his  brother  Charles,  was  not 

popu  ar.  ^^^  ^  Catholic,  which,  of  course,  raised  an  impassable  bar- 

rier between  him  and  his  subjects,  but  he  was  also  imbued 
with  the  same  ideas  of  Divine  Right  as  his  father  Charles  I., 
and  he  held  to  them  as  stubbornly  as  ever  that  monarch 
had  done.  Under  these  circumstances  the  new  reign  did  not 
promise  well.  And  such  favor  as  the  king  at  first  enjoyed 
he  lost  very  soon  owing  to  his  unintelligent  measures. 

His  Catholic  As  James  was  a  Catholic  among  Protestants,  he  should  at 

oolicv- 

the  very  least,  have  kept  quiet.     But  he  seems  to  have  been 

possessed  with  the  idea  that  he  had  been  made  king  for  the 
express  purpose  of  furthering  the  Catholic  cause.  He  did  not 
even  trouble  himself  to  proceed  cautiously.  In  imitation  of 
his  brother,  he  published,  in  the  year  1687,  a  Declaration  of 
Indulgence,. abolishing  all  penalties  against  Catholics  and 
Dissenters.  Regardless  of  the  universal  discontent  he  pub- 
lished the  next  year  a  Second  Declaration,  and  ordered  it  to 
be  read  from  all  the  pulpits.     Most  of  the  clergy  refused 

The  trial  of  the  to  conform  to  this  tyrannical  order,  and  seven  bishops  pre- 
is  ops,  I  .  gg^j-gjj  |-Q  ti^e  Y\Vig  a  written  protest.  James's  answer  was 
an  order  that  legal  proceedings  be  taken  against  them.  Im- 
mense excitement  gathered  around  the  trial,  which  occurred 
in  June,  1688. 

The  Bloody  Meanwhile  other  irregularities  and  illegalities  of  the  king 

had  added  to  his  unpopularity.     In  the  year  of  James's 


Assizes. 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         19/ 

accession,  the  duke  of  Monmouth,  an  illegitimate  son  of 
Charles  II.,  had  risen  in  rebellion  and  claimed  the  throne, 
but  he  was  caught  and  executed.  James  might  have  been 
satisfied  with  this  success.  He  preferred,  however,  a  gen- 
eral persecution.  He  sent  into  the  west,  among  the  people 
who  had  supported  Monmouth,  an  infamous  judge  by  the 
name  of  Jeffreys,  for  the  purpose  of  ferreting  out  Mon- 
mouth's adherents.  The  mockery  of  justice  engaged  in  by 
Jeffreys  is  known  as  "  the  Bloody  Assizes — "  this  inhuman 
monster  not  being  satisfied  until  he  had  hanged  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  poor  victims,  and  transported  eight  hun- 
dred and  forty  to  the  West  Indies.  The  odium  of  these 
misdeeds,  of  course,  fell  upon  the  king. 

All  this  was  for  a  time  put  up  with  by  the  people  because  Birth  of  a  male 
the  next  heir  to  the  throne,  James's  daughter  Mary,  who  ^'^'  ^^  ' 
was  the  child  of  his  first  marriage  and  the  wife  of  William 
of  Orange,  was  a  Protestant.  When,  however,  James's  sec- 
ond wife  gave  birth,  in  June,  1688,  to  a  son,  who  by  the 
English  law  would  take  precedence  over  Mary,  consterna- 
tion seized  the  whole  people.  The  son,  it  was  foreseen, 
would  be  educated  in  the  Catholic  religion,  and  thus  the 
Catholic  dynasty  would  be  perpetuated.  As  the  birth  of  the 
son  and  the  trial  of  the  seven  bishops  occurred  about  the 
same  time  (June,  1688),  England  was  filled  with  excite- 
ment from  end  to  end.  Seizing  the  opportunity,  a  few  pa- 
triotic nobles  invited  William  of  Orange  and  his  wife  Mary 
to  come  to  England's  rescue. 

In  November,  1688,  William  landed  in  England,  and  The  Glorious 
immediately  the  people  of  all  classes  gathered  around  him.  1688. 
The  army  which  James  sent  against  him  refused  to  fight, 
and  James  found  himself  without  a  supporter.  Seeing 
that  the  game  was  up,  he  sent  his  wife  and  child  to  France, 
and  shortly  after  followed  in  person.  Perhaps  never  in  his- 
tory had  there  been  so  swift  and  so  bloodless  a  revolution. 


198  Modern  Europe 


The  Parliament,  which  met  to  deH berate  on  these  events, 
declared    the   throne   vacant,   and  offered   it   to  William 
and    Mary    as    joint   sovereigns.       As  William  and  Mary 
Throne  were  not  the    legitimate  heirs,  the  sovereign  of  England 

Wiiifamlnd      was  by  this  act  virtually  declared  to  be  the  nominee  of  the 
Mary.  Parliament,  and  henceforth,  the  doctrine  that  an  English 

king  held  his  office  by  Divine  Right,  and  not  by  the  suf- 
frages of  the  people,  was  quietly  dropped.  The  Parliament 
furthermore  fortified  its  position  against  the  king  by  a  Bill 
of  Rights  (1689),  in  which  it  reasserted  all  the  claims  of  the 
Petition  of  Right  (1628),  and  severely  Hmited  the  king's  so- 
called  dispensing  powers,  by  virtue  of  which  James  II.  had 
Bill  of  Rights,  claimed  the  right  to  dispense  temporarily  with  such  dis- 
^'  tasteful  acts  as  those  dealing  with  Catholics  and  Dissenters. 

Therewith  the  conflict  between  king  and  Parliament  was 
over,  and  Parliament  had  again  won.  And  the  new  victory 
was  far  more  satisfactory  than  the  earlier  radical  victory  of 
Cromwell,  for  the  ancient  historical  constitution  was  not 
destroyed  this  time  but  merely  77iodified  in  accordance  with 
the  national  needs.  The  difficulty  between  king  and  Parlia- 
ment had  been  from  the  first  the  vague  character  of  the 
royal  prerogative.  From  now  on,  the  king's  power  in  the 
matter  of  taxation  and  interpretation  of  the  laws  was  ex- 
actly defined  by  the  Bill  of  Rights,  and  the  Bill  of  Rights 
stood,  not  only  on  the  statute  books,  but  had  also,  in  the 
course  of  a  long  struggle,  become  a  part  of  every  English- 
man's political  faith. 
TheTolera-  If  the  '' Glorious  Revolution"  secured  the  quiet  polit- 

ical development  of  England,  it  was  no  less  successful  in 
preparing  the  way  for  the  settlement  of  the  religious  ques- 
tions which  had  harassed  England  throughout  the  seven- 
teenth century.  For  on  motion  of  the  Whigs,  Parliament 
passed,  almost  simultaneously  with  the  Bill  of  Rights,  a 
Toleration  Act,  by  which   Dissenters  were  given  the  right 


England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century         199 

of  public  worship.  The  Test  Act^  indeed  was  not  re- 
pealed, and  Catholics  were  treated  as  harshly  as  ever,  but 
the  Toleration  Act  satisfied  the  religious  demands  of  the 
majority  of  Englishmen,  and  religious  peace  was,  by  means 
of  it,  established  in  the  kingdom.  Bill  of  Rights  and  Tol- 
eration Act  inaugurated  in  England  the  era  of  the  new  and 
genuine  constitutionalism. 

The  literature  of  the  seventeenth  century  presents,  in  The  literature. 
sharp  contrast,  the  two  theories  of  life  which  combated 
each  other  under  the  party  names  of  Cavalier  and  Round- 
head. The  moral  severity,  the  noble  aspirations  of  Puritan- 
ism found  a  poet  in  John  Milton  (''  Paradise  Lost,"  1667), 
and  a  simple-minded  eulogist  in  John  Bunyan  (''  Pilgrim's 
Progress,"  1675).  But  the  literary  reign  of  these  men  and 
their  followers  was  short,  for  the  Restoration  quickly  buried 
them  under  its  frivoHty  and  laughter.  Inevitably  literature 
followed  the  currents  of  the  contemporary  life,  and  Milton 
and  Bunyan  were  succeeded  by  a  school  of  licentious  dram- 
atists and  literary  triflers.  John  Dryden  (1631-1701), 
although  himself  a  man  of  sturdy  qualities,  became,  by  the 
force  of  circumstances,  the  leader  of  the  Restoration  set. 

If  the  Restoration  were  to  be  judged  merely  by  its  con-  The  scientific 
tributions  to  literature,  it  would  have  to  be  called  a  petty  age. 
Luckily  it  made  up  for  its  dulness  in  art  in  another  way: 
the  Restoration  marks  a  notable  revival  of  the  scientific 
spirit.  A  symptom  of  this  was  the  founding,  in  the  year 
1660,  of  the  Royal  Society  for  the  express  purpose  of  pro- 
moting the  investigation  of  scientific  problems.  The 
names  of  Locke  and  Newton,  which  grace  this  period,  are 
sufficient  evidence  that  the  aims  of  the  Royal  Society  were 
crowned  with  success. 


revival. 


*  Although  the  Test  Act  was  not  repealed,  the  holding  of  office  by 
Dissenters  was  frequently  suffered  by  the  connivance  of  the  authorities. 


CHAPTER  II 


The  work  of 
Richelieu. 


Mazarin, 

Richelieu's 

successor. 


THE   ASCENDANCY    OF    FRANCE   UNDER    LOUIS     XIV.    (1643- 
1715) 

The  work  of  Richelieu  had  cleared  the  way  for  the  su- 
premacy of  France  in  Europe.  By  destroying  the  political 
privileges  of  the  Huguenots  and  by  breaking  the  power  of 
the  nobility,  he  had  freed  the  royal  authority  from  the  last 
restraints  which  weighed  upon  it,  and  had  rendered  it  abso- 
lute. In  foreign  matters  Richelieu  had  engaged  France  in 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  had  reaped  for  her  the  benefits 
of  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648).  But  just  at  this  point, 
as  France  was  about  to  assume  a  dominant  position,  she 
was  threatened  once  more,  and  as  it  proved,  for  the  last 
time  under  the  old  monarchy,  by  civil  war. 

The  government,  upon  the  death  of  Louis  XIII.  (1643), 
passed  into  the  hands  of  his  queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  who 
was  named  regent  for  the  five-year-old  king.  At  the  same 
time  the  post  of  prime  minister,  which  had  been  occupied 
by  Richelieu,  fell  to  the  confidant  of  the  regent,  another 
churchman  and  an  Italian  by  birth.  Cardinal  Mazarin. 
Most  faithfully  did  Mazarin  carry  out  the  political  inten- 
tions of  Richelieu,  but  he  encountered  naturally,  like  his 
predecessor,  the  envy  of  the  great  nobles,  the  chief  of  whom 
was  the  famous  general,  the  prince  of  Conde.  The  Peace 
of  Westphalia  had  not  yet  been  signed,  when  certain  nobles 
rose  (1648)  against  the  crown,  in  the  hope  that  the  new 
minister  would  prove  not  to  be  of  the  metal  of  his  prede- 
cessor.    The  event  showed  that  they  were  mistaken.     Al- 


Ascendancy  of  France  Under  Louis  XIV.   201 

though  the  Parliament  of  Paris  and  occasional  municipalities 
joined  the  high-born  rebels,  thus  giving  the  new  civil  dis- 
turbances something  of  the  character  of  a  popular  move- 
ment, the  Fronde  (1648-53),  as  the  rising  against  Mazarin  The  Fronde, 
was  called,  was  never  anything  at  bottom  but  the  struggle 
of  the  nobility  to  recover  its  feudal  privileges.  Such  a 
struggle  deserved  to  fail ;  and  if  it  now  failed  it  was  chiefly 
because  France  saw,  as  her  whole  history  urged  her  to  see, 
that  in  a  question  between  king  and  nobles,  her  self-interest 
bound  her  to  the  former.  The  Fronde  may  be  called  the 
death-agony  of  the  nobility  as  a  feudal  governing  class. 
From  the  time  of  its  suppression  the  nobles  gradually  trans- 
formed themselves  into  a  body  of  docile  courtiers,  who 
were  never  occupied  with  anything  more  serious  than  the 
dances  and  spectacles  of  Versailles. 

The  Peace  of  Westphalia  was  signed  between  France  and 
the  Austrian  branch  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg,     Because 
France,  in  union  with  the  Dutch,  had  been  very  successful   The  war  with 
in  the  Spanish  Netherlands  she  was  unwilling  to  draw  off     ^^^"' 
and  conclude  a  peace  with  the  Spanish  branch  of  the  Haps- 
burgs  without  an  adequate  reward.     As  this  was  refused,  war 
with  Spain  still  went  on  after  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  had 
composed  the  rest  of  Europe.     The  Fronde  occurring  at 
this  time,   turned  the  tables  and  inclined  the  balance  for 
some  years  in  favor  of  Spain,  but  as  soon  as  the  Fronde 
was  beaten  down,  Mazarin  was  able  to  win  back  the  lost 
ground  and  force  Spain  to  terms.     Owing  to  foreign  war 
and  internal  revolution,  Spain  was,  in  fact,  at  her  last  gasp. 
When  she  signed  with  France  the  Peace  of  the  Pyrenees  The  Peace  of 
(1659),  she  signed  away  with  it  the  last  remnant  of  the  su-   1659.  ^'"'^"^^^' 
premacy  which  she  had  once  exercised  in  Europe.     France, 
the  victor,  took  the  place  of  Spain  in  the  councils  of  the 
Continent,  and  signalized  her  triumph  by  acquiring  from 
Spain  certain  small  territories  along  the  Pyrenees  and  in 


202 


Modern  Europe 


The  personal 
government 
of  Louis  XIV. 


Absolutism 
becomes 
Divine   Right. 


The  spread 
of  government 
by  Divine 
Right. 


the  Spanish  Netherlands  (Roussillon  and  several  places  of 
Artois). 

With  the  glory  of  the  Peace  of  the  Pyrenees  still  linger- 
ing around  him,  Mazarin  died  (1661).  Thereupon  the 
young  Louis  XIV.,  now  twenty-three  years  of  age,  resolved 
to  take  the  governmenT  into  his  own  hands.  When  he  ex- 
pressed to  the  assembled  secretaries  that  he  would  hence- 
forth be  his  own  prime-minister,  many  of  them  may  have 
smiled  and  doubted.  But  he  kept  his  word :  the  varied 
business  of  the  French  Government  was  transacted  from 
Mazarin's  death  to  his  own  end  practically  by  himself.  It 
is  said  that  he  once  stated  his  political  theory  in  the  words  : 
Vetat  c' est  moi  (I  am  the  state).  Whether  used  by  him  or 
not,  the  phrase,  expresses  admirably  the  spirit  of  his  reign, 
for  he  held  himself  to  be  the  absolute  head  of  the  state, 
and  regarded  his  ministers  not  as  the  responsible  heads  of 
departments,  but  as  clerks.  It  is  characteristic  that  the  sun 
was  his  favorite  emblem,  because  he  was  pleased  to  imagine, 
that  as  the  earth  drew  its  sustenance  from  the  central  lumi- 
nary, so  the  Hfe  of  France  emanated  from  himself:  le  roi- 
soleil  (sun-king),  was  the  title  given  him  by  idolizing  cour- 
tiers. Absolutism  had  existed  in  Europe  long  before  Louis 
XIV.,  but  Louis  XIV.  hedged  the  absolute  monarchs  around 
with  a  new  divinity,  and  gave  the  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
Right  of  kings  a  more  splendid  setting  and  a  more  general 
currency  than  it  had  ever  had  before. 

There  is  nothing  beautiful  to  us  in  government  by  Di- 
vine Right.  But  it  is  not  difficult  to  explain  that  govern- 
ment historically.  It  came  into  existence  simply  because 
there  was  nothing  better  at  hand.  The  feudal  state  had 
been  destroyed  ;  the  national  state  not  yet  created  ;  and 
as  things  stood,  the  only  reliable  element  of  government 
was  the  king.  It  was  so  the  Continent  over.  The  peculiar 
distinction  of  Louis  XIV.  lies  in  having  realized  the  ideal 


Ascendancy  of  France  Under  Louis  XIV.     203 

of  the  new  absolutism  in  advance  of  others.  Beginning 
with  him,  however,  the  new  absohitism  made  the  conquest 
of  Europe.  Everywhere  it  tended  to  raise  the  king  above 
the  law  and  to  destroy  all  the  public  institutions  which 
served  as  barriers  to  his  will.  And  just  here  it  was  that 
the  germ  of  danger  in  the  new  system  lay.  Monarchs  who 
were  worshipped  like  gods  were  Hkely  to  forget  that  they 
must  needs  have  an  end  beyond  their  bon  plat  sir,  their 
good  pleasure,  as  the  courtly  phrase  ran.  The  abuses 
which  crowded  upon  the  path  of  the  new  absolutism  in- 
evitably therefore,  after  a  century  and  a  half,  led  to  its 
overthrow  and  to  the  evolution  of  other  more  just  and  pop- 
ular principles  of  government. 

Louis  began  auspiciously  enough  by  giving  much  atten-  The  king's  re- 
tion  to  the  improvement  of  the  machinery  of  government. 
He  reorganized  the  diplomatic  service ;  he  rendered  the 
administration  more  effective ;  he  enlarged  the  army  and 
navy ;  and  he  purged  the  finances  of  disorder  and  estab- 
lished them  upon  a  sounder  basis.  The  king's  most  ef- 
ficient helper  in  all  this  was  Jean  Colbert  (1619-83).  Colbert. 
Colbert  served  the  king  as  minister  of  finance,  and  merely 
by  putting  an  end  to  the  traditional  peculation  of  the  tax- 
gatherers,  succeeded  in  turning  the  annual  deficit  of  the 
state  into  a  surplus. 

This  same  Colbert  is  also  celebrated  as  the  father  of 
French  manufactures.  He  encouraged  the  native  industries 
by  developing  and  applying  the  system  of  protection 
(known  at  the  time  as  the  mercantile  system),  with  a  greater 
measure  of  severity  than  had  been  practised  up  to  that  day. 
Foreign  goods  were  practically  excluded  by  Colbert  from 
the  country.  Whatever  ill  resulted  from  the  system,  cer-  Theprosper- 
tainly  French  silks,  brocades,  laces,  and  glass  captured,  and  ^  ^° 
have  held  to  this  day,  );he  markets  of  the  world.  Colbert 
also  improved  the  means  of  internal  communication  by 


204 


Modern  Europe 


Louis  be- 
comes a  con- 
queror. 


His  wars. 


Louis  antag- 
onizes Europe. 


building  the  best  roads  and  canals  which  Europe  could  then 
boast,  and  he  favored  the  establishment  of  colonies.  Set- 
tlements were,  at  this  time,  made  in  the  West  Indies,  Louis- 
iana, and  India.  In  a  word,  France  seemed  intent,  in  the 
early  years  of  Louis  XIV.,  on  matching  the  political  and 
military  supremacy  already  attained,  with  the  more  sub- 
stantial supremacy,  which  is  the  result  of  a  long  period  of 
commercial  and  industrial  prosperity. 

Unfortunately  Louis's  successes  turned  his  head.  He 
was  only  a  young  man,  and  had  only  governed  a  few  years, 
and  now  he  found  himself  the  cynosure  of  all  Europe.  In 
all  truth  he  could  say  that  he  was  the  first  power  of  the 
world.  But  in  measure  as  he  found  that  his  neighbors 
were  no  match  for  him,  he  began  to  be  tempted  by  the 
thought  of  making  them  his  dependents.  It  was  not  a 
high  ambition,  this,  still  it  won  the  day  with  him.  In  the 
year  1667,  therefore,  Louis  entered  upon  a  career  of  aggres- 
sion and  conquest,  which  after  a  few  brilliant  results,  led 
to  such  a  succession  of  disasters  that  the  man  whose  progress 
had  been  attended  by  clouds  of  incense  wafted  by  admiring 
courtiers  closed  his  career  in  ignominy. 

Four  great  wars  substantially  filled  the  rest  of  Louis's 
life.  They  were  :  i.  The  War  with  Spain  for  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Spanish  Netherlands  (1667-68);  2,  the  War 
with  the  Dutch  (1672-78);  3,  the  War  of  the  Palatinate 
(1688-97)  ;  4,  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  (1701- 

14). 

When  Louis,  in  the  year  1667,  surveyed  the  political 
situation,  and,  noting  his  own  prosperity  and  the  weakness 
of  his  neighbors,  resolved  on  a  war  of  conquest,  he  must 
have  debated  carefully  whither  he  would  best  move.  He 
decided  finally  that  it  would  be  wisest  to  extend  the  French 
boundaries  toward  the  east.  Probably  he  argued  that 
France  needed  to  be  strengthened,  most  of  all,  on  this  side. 


Ascendancy  of  France  Under  Louis  XIV     205 


By  choosing  to  expand  eastward,  however,  he  was  bound 
to  antagonize  the  three  countries,  which  were  directly- 
threatened  by  this  move  :  Spain,  the  Dutch,  and  Germany. 
Sooner  or  later,  too,  he  was  likely  to  arouse  the  jealousy  of 
the  ancient  rival  of  France,  England.  Did  Louis,  when 
he  began  war  so  lightly,  reckon  with  the  chance  of  a  Eu- 
ropean coalition  against  him?  Probably  not.  He  saw 
only  the  contemporary  divisions  of  Europe  and  his  own 
brilliant  opportunity,  and  Hke  every  other  adventurer,  he 
let  the  future  take  care  of  itself 

In  1667  Louis  suddenly  invaded  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands. The  fact  that  he  tried  to  justify  himself  by  putting 
forth  some  vague  claims  of  his  Spanish  wife  to  these  ter-  The  war  of  the 
ritories,  only  added  hypocrisy  to  violence.  His  well-ap-  edands,  1^7- 
•  pointed  army  took  place  after  place.  Spain  was  too  weak  ^^• 
to  offer  resistance,  and  if  the  Dutch,  frightened  at  the  pros- 
pect of  such  a  neighbor  as  Louis,  had  not  bestirred  them- 
selves, Louis  would  have  overrun  all  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands. The  Triple  Alliance  of  the  Dutch,  England,  and 
Sweden,  formed  by  the  rapid  ingenuity  of  the  republican 
patriot,  John  de  Witt,  who  was  at  this  time  at  the  head 
of  the  Dutch^  Government,  bade  Louis  halt.  Louis,  on  oc- 
casion, could  distinguish  the  possible  from  the  impossible. 
In  answer  to  the  threat  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  he  declared 
himself  satisfied  with  a  frontier  strip  and  retired.  The 
Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  (Aachen)  formally  secured  him 
in  his  bold  theft  (1668). 

For  the  next  few  years  Louis  seemed  to  be  dominated  by 
a  single  thought — revenge  upon  the  Dutch.  The  Dutch  The  isolation 
had  been  the  soul  of  the  Triple  Alliance;  the  Dutch  pri-  of  ^he  Dutch. 
marily  hindered  his  expansion  eastward.  The  plan  he 
now  formed  was  to  sever  the  Dutch  from  all  their  friends 
and  allies,  and  then  fall  upon  them  unawares.  The  diplo- 
matic campaign,  preliminary  to  the  declaration  of  war,  was 


206  Modern  Europe 


crowned  by  complete  success.  Sweden  and  the  emperor 
were  detached  from  the  Dutch  by  treaties  of  neutrahty; 
and  Charles  11. ,  by  the  Treaty  of  Dover  ^  (1670),  was  even 
pledged  to  join  the  forces  of  England  with  the  French  in 
the  proposed  war.  In  the  spring  of  1672  everything  was 
ready.  While  the  combined  French  and  English  fleets  en- 
gaged the  Dutch  fleet  under  the  celebrated  Admiral  Ruy- 
ter  in  the  Channel,  the  French  army,  led  by  Conde  and 
Turenne,  invaded  the  territory  of  the  Seven  United  Prov- 
inces by  following  the  course  of  the  Rhine. 

In  a  few  weeks  most  of  the  provinces,  owing  to  the  decay 
The  House,  of  into  which  de  Witt  had  permitted  the  army  and  fortresses 
theTront.^  to  fall,  were  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  And  now  a  terri- 
ble indignation  swept  over  the  alarmed  people.  They 
fell  upon  and  murdered  the  republican  leader  de  Witt,  and 
would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  the  triumphant  re- 
instatement of  the  House  of  Orange,  which,  at  the  close  of 
the  Spanish  war,  the  republicans  had  quietly  shelved.  In 
an  outburst  of  enthusiasm,  William  III.  of  Orange  was  made 
Stadtholder  and  supreme  commander  on  sea  and  land.  This 
The  character  William  was  far  from  being  a  genius,  but  he  was  sprung 
from  an  heroic  race,  and  the  responsibility  for  a  nation's  safe- 
keeping which  was  put  upon  him  in  astern  crisis,  brought  out 
his  best  qualities.  The  English  ambassador,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  French  invasion,  invited  him  to  submit,  urging 
that  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  Republic  was  lost.  "I 
know  one  means  of  never  seeing  it,"  he  replied,  '^  to  die 
on  the  last  dyke."  It  was  this  spirit  that  now  steeled  the 
temper  of  the  little  people  and  enabled  them  to  emulate  the 
deeds  of  their  ancestors  against  Spain. 

Before  Louis  could  take  the  heart  of  the  Netl^erlands,  the 
city  of  Amsterdam,  the  Dutch  had,  at  the  order  of  William, 


» See  page  193. 


Ascendancy  of  France  Under  Louis  XIV     20/ 


cut  the  dykes  and  restored  their  country  to  the  original  The  Dutch 
dominion  of  the  waters.  Louis  had  to  retreat ;  his  oppor-  generah^""*^^ 
tunity  was  lost.  But  Europe  was  now  thoroughly  aroused, 
and  before  many  months  had  passed,  there  had  ralhed  to  the 
cause  of  the  Dutch,  the  emperor,  the  states  of  the  Empire, 
and  Spain.  In  the  year  1674  the  position  of  Louis  was  still 
further  weakened.  Li  that  year  the  state  of  English  pub- 
lic opinion  forced  Charles  IL  to  abandon  Louis  and  make 
his  peace  with  the  Dutch.  Louis  was  thereupon  left  to  face 
a  great  continental  coalition  with  no  ally  but  remote  Swe- 
den. The  odds  in  a  struggle  with  all  Europe  were  patently 
against  Louis,  and  although  the  superiority  of  French  or- 
ganization and  French  generalship  enabled  him  to  win 
every  pitched  battle  with  his  foes,  he  was  glad  enough  to 
end  the  war  when  peace  was  offered.  By  the  Treaty  of 
Nimwegen  (1678)  his  supremacy  in  Europe  was  confirmed, 
and  he  was  permitted,  in  recognition  of  that  supremacy, 
to  incorporate  the  Franche  Comte,  a  detached  eastern  prov- 
ince of  Spain,  with  France. 

The  second  war,  too,  although  it  had  roused  a  Euro- 
pean alliance  against  Louis,  had  brought  him  its  prize  of 
a  new  province.     Louis  was  now  at  the  zenith  of  his  glory.    Louis  takes 
The  adulation  of  his  court  became  more  and  more  slavish,    "  ^^^ 

until  the  flattered  monarch  imagined  that  he  could  do  every- 
thing with  impunity.  His  imperious  temper  is  well  exhib- 
ited by  an  event  of  the  year  1681.  In  a  period  of  complete 
peace  he  fell  upon  the  city  of  Strasburg,  the  last  stronghold 
of  the  Empire  in  Alsace,  and  incorporated  it  with  France. 

A  cloud  that  settled  on  the  spirit  of  the  king  at  this 
time  prepared  a  monstrous  action.  The  frivolous,  pleasure- 
loving  Louis,  having  lately  fallen  under  the  influence  of  a 
devout  Catholic  lady,  Madame  de  Maintenon,  the  gover- 
ness of  some  of  his  children,  was  suddenly  seized  with  re- 
ligious exaltation.     To  Madame  de  Maintenon  the  eradica- 


208 


Modern  Europe 


The  Revoca- 
tion of  the 
Edict  of 
Nantes,  1685. 


England  joins 
Europe 
against  Louis. 


tion  of  heresy  was  a  noble  work,  and  Louis,  taking  the  cue 
from  her,  began  gradually  to  persecute  the  Protestants. 
At  first,  innocently  enough,  rewards  were  offered  to  vol- 
untary converts.  Then  the  government  proceeded  to  take 
more  drastic  measures;  wherever  Huguenots  refused  on 
summons  to  become  Catholics,  rough  dragoons  were  quar- 
tered on  the  recalcitrants,  till  they  had  become  pliant. 
These  barbarities  became  known  as  dragonnades.  Finally, 
in  1685,  two  years  after  Louis  had  formally  married  Mad- 
ame de  Maintenon,  and  had  thus  become  thoroughly  en- 
slaved to  her  policy,  he  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  by 
virtue  of  which  the  Huguenots  had  enjoyed  a  partial  free- 
dom of  worship  for  almost  one  hundred  years.  Therewith 
the  Protestant  faith  was  proscribed  within  the  boundaries 
of  France.  The  blow  which  by  this  insane  measure  struck 
the  prosperity  of  the  country  was  more  injurious  than  a 
disastrous  war.  Thousands  of  Huguenots — the  lowest  esti- 
mate speaks  of  50,000  families — fled  across  the  border 
and  carried  their  industry,  their  capital,^  and  their  civili- 
zation to  the  enemies  of  France — chiefly  to  Holland, 
America,  and  Prussia. 

The  occupation  of  Strasburg  and  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  were  events  belonging  to  an  interval  of 
peace.  But  Louis  was  already  planning  a  new  war.  When 
his  preparations  became  known,  the  emperor,  the  Dutch, 
and  Spain  concluded,  at  the  instigation  of  William  of 
Orange,  a  new  alliance.  Happily  before  the  war  had  weH 
begun,  a  lucky  chance  won  England  for  the  allies.  In  1688 
James  \\.  was  overthrown  by  the  **  glorious  Revolution," 
and  William  of  Orange  became  king  of  England.     As  the 


» The  industry  and  the  capital  of  the  Huguenots  are  not  mere  phrases- 
The  Huguenots  and  their  co-religionists  everywhere  were  the  hardest 
workers  of  the  time,  largely  through  the  direct  influence  of  Calvin.  Cal- 
vin interpreted  the  commandment :  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  literally, 
and  abandoned  the  dozens  of  holidays  which  forced  Catholic  workmen 
*  to  be  idle  a  good  part  of  the  year. 


Ascendancy  of  France   Under  Louis  XIV    209 

temper  of  the  English  people  had  at  the  same  time  become 
thoroughly  anti-French,  William  had  no  difficulty  in  per- 
suading them  to  join  Europe  against  the  French  tyrant. 
Thus  in  the  new  war — called  the  war  of  the  Palatinate, 
from  the  double  fact  that  Louis  claimed  the  Palatinate  and 
that  the  war  began  with  a  terrible  harrying  by  fire  and 
sword  of  that  poor  Rhenish  land — Louis  was  absolutely 
without  a  friend. 

This  third  war  (1688-97)  is,  for  the  general  student,  thor- 
oughly unmemorable.  Battles  were  fought  on  land  and  on  The  War  of 
sea,  in  the  Channel,  in  the  Netherlands,  and  along  the  1688-97. 
Rhine,  and  generally  the  French  proved  their  old  supe- 
riority ;  but  they  were  not  strong  enough  to  reap  any  ben- 
efit from  their  successes  against  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  in 
1697  all  the  combatants  from  mere  exhaustion  were  glad 
to  sign,  on  the  basis  of  mutual  restitutions,  the  Peace  of 
Ryswick. 

The  War  of  the  Palatinate  was  the  first  war  by  which 
Louis  had  gained  nothing.  The  fact  should  have  served 
him  as  a  warning  that  the  tide  had  turned.  And  perhaps  The  Spanish 
he  would  not  have  been  so  utterly  scornful  of  the  hostility 
of  Europe  if  there  had  not  opened  up  to  him  at  this  time 
a  peculiarly  tempting  prospect.  The  king  of  Spain, 
Charles  IL,  had  no  heir,  and  at  his  death,  which  might 
occur  at  any  time,  the  vast  Spanish  dominion — Spain  and 
her  colonies,  Naples  and  Milan,  the  Spanish  Netherlands — 
would  fall  no  one  knew  to  whom.  The  Austrian  branch 
of  Hapsburg  had,  of  course,  a  claim,  but  Louis  fancied 
that  his  children  had  a  better  title  still  in  right  of  his  first 
wife,  who  was  the  oldest  sister  of  the  Spanish  king.  The 
matter  was  so  involved  legally  that  it  is  impossible  to  say 
to  this  day  where  the  better  right  lay. 

Anticipating  a  struggle  with  Europe  over  the  coming  in- 
heritance, Louis  entered  into  negotiation  with  his  chief  ad- 


inheritance. 


2IO 


Modern  Europe 


Louis  signs 
and  rejects 
the  Partition 
Treaty. 


The  Grand 
Alliance. 


The 

combatants 

compared. 


versary,  William  III.  of  England,  long  before  the  death  of 
Charles  II.  had  made  the  inheritance  a  burning  question. 
A  partition  treaty  was  accordingly  agreed  on  by  the  two 
leading  powers  of  Europe,  as  the  most  plausible  settlement 
of  the  impending  difficulties.  But  when,  on  the  death  ot 
Charles  II.,  November,  1700,  it  was  found  that  the  Span- 
ish king  had  made  a  will  in  favor  of  Philip,  the  duke  of 
Anjou,  one  of  Louis's  younger  grandsons,  Louis  threw  the 
partition  treaty  to  the  winds.  He  sent  Philip  to  Madrid 
to  assume  the  rule  of  the  undivided  dominion  of  Spain. 
The  House  of  Bourbon  now  ruled  the  whole  European 
west.  "  There  are  no  longer  any  Pyrenees,"  were  Louis's 
exultant  words. 

It  was  some  time  before  Europe  recovered  from  the  shock 
of  its  surprise  over  this  bold  step,  and  nerved  itself  to  a  re- 
sistance. William,  of  course,  was  indefatigable  in  arousing 
the  Dutch  and  English,  and  at  last,  in  1701,  he  succeeded 
in  creating  the  so-called  Grand  Alliance,  composed  of  the 
emperor,  England,  the  Dutch,  and  the  leading  German 
princes.  Before  the  war  had  fairly  begun,  however,  Will- 
iam, the  stubborn,  life-long  enemy  of  Louis,  had  died 
(March,  1702).  In  the  war  which  broke  out,  called  the 
war  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  1702-14,  his  spirit  is  to 
be  accounted  none  the  less  a  potent  combatant. 

In  the  new  war  the  position  of  Louis  was  more  favorable 
than  it  had  been  in  the  ])receding  war.  He  commanded 
the  resources  not  only  of  France  but  also  of  Spain ;  his 
soldiers  still  had  the  reputation  of  being  invincible;  and 
his  armies  had  the  advantage  of  being  under  his  single 
direction.  The  allies,  on  the  other  hand,  were  necessarily 
divided  by  conflicting  interests.  What  advantages  they 
had  lay  in  these  two  circumstances,  which  in  the  end 
proved  decisive:  The  allies  possessed  greater  resources  of 
money  and  men,  and  they  developed  superior  commanders. 


Ascendancy  of  France  Under  Louis  XIV.     21 1 

The  great  French  generals,  Conde  and  Turenne,  were  now 
dead,  and  their  successors,  with  the  exception  of  Marshal 
Villars  and  Vauban,  the  inventor  of  the  modern  system  of 
fortification,  were  all  men  of  commonplace  capacity.  In 
the  highest  commands,  where  France  was  weak,  England 
and  Austria  on  the  other  hand  proved  themselves  particu- 
larly strong.  They  developed  in  the  duke  of  Marlborough 
and  in  Eugene,  prince  of  Savoy,  two  eminent  commanders. 
Equally  gifted,  they  planned  their  campaigns  in  common, 
with  sole  reference  to  the  good  of  the  cause,  and  they  shared 
the  honors  of  victory  without  the  jealousy  which  often 
stains  brilliant  names. 

Not  even  the  Thirty  Years'  War  assumed  such  propor-   The  War  of 
tions  as  the  struggle  in  which  Europe  now  engaged.     It   succSn  is 
was  literally  universal,  and  raged,  at  one  and  the  same  time,    sjJIJJ^g ^fg 
at  all  the  exposed  points  of  the   French-Spanish  posses- 
sions, that  is,  in  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  along  the  upper 
Rhine,  in  Italy,  in  Spain  itself  (where  the  Hapsburg  claim- 
ant, the  Archduke  Charles,  strove  to  drive  out  the  Bour- 
bon king,  Philip  V.),  on  the  sea,  and  in  the  colonies  of 
North  America.     The  details  of  this  gigantic  struggle  have 
no  place  here.      We  must  content  ourselves  with  noting  the 
striking  military  actions  and  the  final  settlement. 

The  first  great  battle  of  the  war  occurred  in  1 704,  at  Blen-  The  victories 
heim,  near  the  upper  Danube.  The  battle  of  Blenheim  was  Mar"b?rough. 
the  result  of  a  bold  strategical  move  of  Marlborough,  straight 
across  western  Germany,  in  order  to  save  Vienna  from  a 
well-planned  attack  of  the  French.  Together  with  Eugene, 
Marlborough  captured  or  cut  to  pieces  the  French  army. 
At  Blenheim  the  myth  of  French  invincibility  was  ex- 
ploded, and  the  English  soldier  there  again  revealed  his 
capabilities  to  Europe.  In  1706  Marlborough  won  a 
splendid  victory  at  Rami  Hies,  in  the  Netherlands,  and  in  the 
same  year  Eugene  defeated  the  French  at  Turin  and  drove 


212 


Modern  Europe 


A  Tory 

ministry 
succeeds  the 
Whigs. 


The  death  of 

Emperor 

Joseph. 


The  Peace  of 
Utrecht,  1713. 


them  out  of  Italy.  These  signal  successes  were  followed  in 
the  years  1708  and  1709  by  the  great  victories  of  Oude- 
narde  and  Malplaquet.  Oudenarde  and  Malplaquet  left 
France  prostrate,  and  seemed  to  open  up  the  road  to  Paris. 

The  road  to  Paris,  however,  owing  to  a  number  of  un- 
expected occurrences,  which  utterly  changed  the  face  of 
European  politics,  was  never  taken.  In  17 10  the  Whig 
ministry  in  England,  which  had  supported  Marlborough 
and  advocated  the  war,  '  was  overthrown,  and  a  Tory 
ministry,  in  favor  of  peace  at  any  price,  succeeded.  Thus 
from  1 7 10  on,  Marlborough's  actions  in  the  field  were 
paralyzed.  The  next  year  there  happened  something  even 
worse. 

In  1 7 1 1  the  Emperor  Joseph  died,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother,  Charles  VI.  As  Charles  was  also  the  candidate 
of  the  Grand  Alliance  for  the  Spanish  throne,  the  death  of 
Joseph  held  out  the  prospect  of  the  renewal  of  the  vast 
empire  of  Charles  V.  Such  a  development  did  not  lie  in 
the  interests  of  England  and  the  Dutch,  and  these  two 
nations  now  began  to  withdraw  from  the  Grand  Alliance 
and  urge  a  settlement  with  the  French.  Louis,  who  was 
utterly  exhausted  and  broken  by  defeat,  met  them  more 
than  halfway.  In  17 13,  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  ended  the 
war  of  the  Spanish  Succession. 

By  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  the  Spanish  dominions  were 
divided.  Everybody  managed  to  get  some  share  in  the 
booty.  First,  Philip  V.,  Louis's  grandson,  was  recognized 
as  king  of  Spain  and  her  colonies,  on  condition  that  France 
and  Spain  would  remain  forever  separated.  Next  the  em- 
peror was  provided  for  ;  he  received  the  bulk  of  the  Italian 
possessions  (Milan  and  Naples),  together  with  the  Spanish 
Netherlands  (henceforth  Austrian  Netherlands).  The 
Dutch  were  appeased  with  a  number  of  border  fortresses  in 
the  Austrian  Netherlands,  as  a  barrier  against  France ;  and 


Ascendancy  of  France   Under  Louis  XIV.     213 

England  took  some  of  the  French  possessions  in  the  New 
World,  Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia  (Acadia)  and  the 
Hudson  Bay  Territory,  together  with  the  Spanish  rock  of 
Gibraltar,  which  gave  her  the  command  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea.  The  ambitious  and  dissatisfied  emperor  re- 
fused, at  first,  to  accept  this  peace,  but  he  was  forced  to 
give  way  and  confirm  its  leading  arrangements  by  the 
Peace  of  Rastadt  (17 14). 

Shortly  after  the  Treaties  of  Utrecht  and  Rastadt,  Louis  Louis's  death. 
XIV.  died  (September,  1715).  The  material  prosperity 
that  he  and  Colbert  had  created. in  his  early  years,  had 
vanished,  and  he  left  a  debt-burdened  country  and  a  fam- 
ished population.  His  disastrous  end  was  a  merited  pen- 
alty for  a  foolish  ambition.  But  to  his  contemporaries  he 
remained  to  the  day  of  his  death,  the  grand  monarque ; 
and  that  title  is  a  good  summary  of  him  as  he  appears  in 
history,  for  it  conveys  the  impression  of  a  showy  splendor 
which  is  not  without  the  suspicion  of  hoUowness. 

The  brilliancy  which  Louis's  long  reign  lent'  France  cast   The  domi- 
a  spell  upon  the  rest  of  the  world.     Under  its  action  Louis's   French 
court  became  the  model  court  of  Europe,  and  the  so-called   <^'vihzation. 
good  society,  the  world  over,   adopted,  for  more  than  a 
century,    the   French    tongue,    French    manners,    French 
fashions,  and  French  art.     That  such  mere  imitation  could 
bring  other  nations  no  solid  cultural  advantages  goes  with- 
out saying,  but  it  is  fair  to  recognize  that  French  civiliza- 
tion under  Louis  must  have  possessed  an  irresistible  attract- 
iveness to  have  excited  such  universal  admiration. 

Louis  established  his  court  at  Versailles.    There  he  built '  Versailles 
a  vast  palace  at   fabulous  expense,  whither  he  drew  the  capitai^o/  ^ 
aristocracy  of  France,  to  lead,  under  his  eyes,  the  life  of  France, 
polished  elegance,  with  its  round  of  plays,  pastorals,  fetes, 
hunts,  and  dances.     Perhaps  royalty  never  had,  before  or 
after,  so  distinguished  a  setting. 


214  Modern  Europe 


The  bloom  of        Under  Louis,  French  literature  was  enriched  by  some  of 
literature.  its  best  productions.     It  is  the  period  of  the  pseudo-class- 

icists, whose  work  is  not  without  much  of  the  artificiality 
which  was  naturally  absorbed  with  the  life  of  the  time,  but 
who  possess,  nevertheless,  genuine  human  qualities.  France 
points  proudly  to  Corneille  (d.  1684)  and  Racine  (d. 
1699),  writers  of  notable  tragedies,  and  Moliere  (d.  1673), 
author  of  the  wittiest  and  most  searching  comedies  that 
have  ever  been  written. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  RISE  OF  RUSSIA  UNDER  PETER  THE  GREAT  (1689- 
^725)  AND  CATHARINE  THE  GREAT  (l  762-96)  ;  THE 
DECAY    OF    SWEDEN 


The  Russian  people  do  not  make  their .  entrance  into 
history  until  the  ninth  century,  when  they  were  conquered 
by  a  band  of  Norsemen  and  united  in  a  state  under  Rurik. 
The  Norse  family  of  Rurik  continued  to  rule  in  Russia  for 
over  seven  hundred  years.  This  period  was  a  period  of 
barbarism,  and  only  one  or  two  facts  connected  with  it  are 
really  memorable. 

In  the  tenth  century  the  Russians  became  Christians, 
being  converted  to  the  Greek  form  of  Christianity  by  mis- 
sionaries from  Constantinople.  Three  hundred  years  later 
there  occurred  a  great  calamity.  Russia  was  overrun  by 
the  Mongols,  barbarians  from  Asia,  and  it  was  only  after 
a  subjugation  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  that  Ivan 
III.,  known  as  the  Great,  succeeded  in  casting  off  the  for- 
eign yoke  (1480).  This  same  Ivan  also  reduced  the  power 
of  the  great  princes  and  the  municipalities,  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  absolute  monarchy.  Ivan  IV.  (1533- 
84),  known  as  the  Terrible,  added  to  these  triumphs.  By 
the  conquest  of  Astrachan  from  the  Tartars,  he  pushed  the 
Russian  boundary  southward  to  the  Caspian  Sea.^    He  also 


1  Ivan  also  ventured  to  discard  the  old  title  of  Grand  Duke  of  Muscovy 
for  the  more  distinguished  one  of  Czar.  Czar  is  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  Cassar,  and  its  adoption  meant  that  the  rulers  of  Russia  considered 
themselves,  now  that  Constantinople  had  fallen  (1453),  the  heirs  of  the 
traditions  of  the  Eastern  Empire. 

215 


The  conquest 
of  Russia  by 
the  Norsemen, 


The  unifica- 
tion of  Russia 
under  Ivan 
III.  and  Ivan 
IV. 
/   i    4^ 


2i6  Modern  Europe 

attempted  to  acquire  for  Russia  a  hold  upon  the  Baltic, 
and  thus  gain  an  outlet  toward  the  west.  This  plan  failed, 
but  Ivan's  ambition  was  inherited  by  his  successors.  In 
fact,  until  the  plan  was  realized  under  Peter  the  Great, 
the  Russian  monarchs  seem  to  have  buried  every  other 
aspiration. 
The  House  of       The  House  of  Rurik  came  to  an  end  in  1598.     For  the 

Romanoff  t^        •  •  ,.  .  ^ 

next  ten  years  Russia  was  m  a  condition  of  anarchy,  and 

the  whole  state  seemed  on  the  verge  of  falling  a  prey  to  its 
jealous  western  neighbors,  Sweden  and  Poland.  in_26jLi_ 
the  national  party,  however,  succeeded  in  putting  one  of 
its  own  number,  Michael  Romanoff,  upon  the  throne,  and 
under  the  House  orthis"prrnceTHe  state  rapidly  revived. 
Theconquest  Not  only  did  the  early  Romanoffs  banish  the  Polish  and 
Swedish  influence,  but  they  also  succeeded  in  greatly  ex- 
tending the  Russian  power  through  the  acquisition  of  Si- 
beria. This  vast  conquest,  covering  the  whole  of  northern 
Asia,  was  not  the  reward  of  a  succession  of  military  tri- 
umphs. Rather  than  to  the  Russian  monarchs  the  acqui- 
sition of  Siberia  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  enterprise  of 
Russian  traders  and  adventurers,  who,  as  they  penetrated 
progressively  into  the  ice  fields  of  Asia  in  search  of  furs  and 
walrus  ivory,  annexed  territory  after  territory  in  the  name 
of  their  master. 
The  accession  The  Romanoffs  came  to  honor  in  the  person  of  Peter, 
o  eter,  i  2.  ^^^^  succeeded  to  the  throne,  together  with  his  older  brother 
Ivan,  in  the  year  1682.  As  the  new  Czars  were,  at  that 
time,  still  boys,  and  Ivan  little  better  than  an  imbecile, 
the  government  was  exercised  for  some  time  by  an  older 
sister,  Sophia,  in  the  capacity  of  regent.  However,  in 
1689  Peter,  who  had  then  attained  his  seventeenth  year, 
resolved  to  take  matters  into  his  own  hands.  He  declared 
the  regency  at  an  end,  and  summarily  sent  Sophia  to  a 
nunnery.       As  the  sickly  Ivan   (d.    1696)  was   harmless. 


The  Rise  of  Russia  217 

Peter  generously  allowed  him  to  play  the  part  of  a  co-ruler 
for  the  few  more  years  that  he  lived. 

In  order  to  understand  Peter's  programme,  it  is  necessary  The  three 
to  review  the  chief  elements  of  the  political  and  intellectual  Peler's\Tfe.° 
position  of  Russia  at  the  time  of  his  accession.  In  the 
second  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Russians  were 
still  in  life  and  manners  an  Asiatic  people,  who  were  con- 
nected with  European  culture  by  but  a  single  bond — their 
Christian  faith.  Their  political  situation  seemed,  at  first 
sight,  more  hopeful.  But  in  spite  of  the  vast  area  of  the 
state,  which  included  the  eastern  plain  of  Europe  and  the 
whole  north  of  Asia,  Russia  was  so  cooped  in  on  the  west 
and  south  by  a  ring  of  great  powers,  Persia,  Turkey,  Poland, 
and  Sweden,  that  she  was  practically  an  inland  state  and 
in  actual  danger  of  strangulation  for  want  of  an  outlet  to 
the  sea.  Finally,  it  is  necessary  to  understand  the  Russian 
constitution.  The  Czar  was  the  absolute  master,  but  there 
existed  two  checks  upon  his  power  —  the  patriarch,  the 
head  of  the  Church,  who  exercised  great  influence  in  re- 
ligious matters,  and  the  Streltsi,  the  Czar's  body-guard, 
who,  because  they  were  a  privileged  force,  felt  inclined  to 
regard  themselves  superior  to  their  master.  This  whole 
composite  situation  Peter  soon  seized  with  a  statesmanhke 
grasp,  and  admirably  moulded  it,  through  the  efforts  of  a 
long  rule,  to  his  own  purposes.  He  set  himself,  in  the 
main,  three  aims,  and  met  in  all  a  degree  of  success  which 
is  fairly  astonishing.  These  aims  were  the  following: 
He  resolved  to  make  the  culture  connection  between 
Russia  and  Europe  strong  and  intimate ;  he  labored  to 
open  a  way  to  the  west  by  gaining  a  hold  on  the  Black 
and  on  the  Baltic  seas  ;  and,  lastly,  he  planned  to  rid 
himself  of  the  restraint  put  upon  his  authority  by  the 
patriarch  and  the  Streltsi. 

Peter  is  a  difficult  person  for  a  modern  man  to  under- 


2l8 


Modern  Europe 


Peter's  char- 
acter. 


Peter's  first 
conquest  : 
Azov. 


Peter's  jour- 
ney of  in- 
struction. 


Stand.  One  aspect  presents  him  as  a  murderer,  another  as 
a  monster  of  sensuality,  and  still  another  as  a  hero.  We 
have  the  key  to  his  character  when  we  remember  that  he 
was  a  barbarian  of  genius — never  anything  more.  Civil- 
ized standards  applied  to  him  are  unjust  and  fail.  Bar- 
barity was  an  element  of  his  blood,  and  all  his  strenuous, 
life-long  aspirations  for  the  nobler  things  of  the  mind  and 
the  sweeter  things  of  the  soul  never  diminished  in  him  a 
certain  natural  depravity.  Therefore,  his  life  is  full  of  the 
strangest  contrasts.  With  barbarian  eagerness  he  assimi- 
lated every  influence  that  he  encountered,  good  and  evil 
alike,  and  surrendered  himself,  for  the  time  being,  to  its 
sway  with  all  his  might.  Certainly,  his  distinguishing 
characteristic  is  an  indomitable  energy  :  Peter's  life  burnt 
at  a  white  heat. 

Peter's  first  chance  to  distinguish  himself  came  in  the 
year  1695.  The  emperor  was  at  that  time  waging  war 
against  the  Turks,  who  were  beginning  to  show  the  first 
symptoms  of  collapse.  Seeing  his  opportunity,  Peter  re- 
solved to  make  use  of  the  fortunate  embarrassment  of  the 
Turks  to  acquire  a  southern  outlet  for  Russia.  In  1696  he 
conquered  the  Port  of  Azov.  The  future  now  opened 
more  confidently  to  him,,  and  before  taking  another  step 
he  determined  to  visit  the  West  and  study  the  wonders  of 
its  civilization  with  his  own  eyes. 

Peter  spent  the  year  1697-98  in  travel  through  Germany, 
Holland,  and  England.  The  journey,  undertaken  with  a 
large  suite  of  fellow-students  like  himself,  was  meant  purely 
as  a  voyage  of  instruction.  Throughout  its  course  Peter 
was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  get  at  the  bottom  of 
things,  at  the  methods  of  western  government,  at  the 
sources  of  western  wealth,  at  the  systems  of  western 
trade  and  manufacture.  **  I  am  a  learner,"  is  the  motto 
encircling  the  seal  which  he  had  struck  for  this  voyage. 


The  Rise  of  Russia  219 

At  Zaandam,  in  Holland,  he  hired  out  for  a  time  as  a 
common  ship-carpenter,  ship-building  from  the  time  of  his 
boyhood  having  been  a  passion  with  him.  But  he  did  not, 
because  of  it,  neglect  the  examination  of  the  other  devel- 
oped activities  of  the  west.  He  attended  surgical  lectures, 
visited  paper-mills,  flour-mills,  printing  presses,  in  short, 
was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  assimilate,  not  a  part,  but 
the  whole  of  western  civilization.  In  England,  King 
William  received  him  with  especial  cordiality  and  assisted 
him  in  every  way  in  the  prosecution  of  his  studies.  The 
rough  Peter  was  the  joke  of  the  day  among  the  fashionable 
people  of  London,  but  the  intelligent  at  London  and  else- 
where were  spurred  to  interest  by  this  enthusiastic  worker, 
who  labored  so  conscientiously  to  fit  himself  for  the  task 
of  practical  reformer  of  the  barbarian  people  which  he 
ruled. 

The  opportunity  for  putting  the  results  of  his  trip  to  the 
test  of  practice  came  sooner  than  Peter  expected.  At 
Vienna  he  heard  that  the  Streltsi  had  revolted.  He  set  The  streltsi 
out  post-haste  for  home,  established  order,  and  then  took 
a  fearful  vengeance.  Over  a  thousand  of  the  luckless 
guards  were  executed  with  terrible  tortures.  Rumor  reports 
that  Peter  in  his  savage  fury  himself  played  the  headsman. 
Sovereign  and  executioner — this  combination  of  offices 
filled  by  Peter,  clearly  exhibits  the  chasm  that  then  yawned 
between  Europe  and  Russia.  But  no  one  will  deny  that 
there  was  method  in  Peter's  madness.  The  Streltsi  had 
been  a  constant  centre  of  disaffection,  and  had  frequently 
threatened  the  throne.  Now  was  the  time,  as  Peter  clearly 
saw,  to  get  rid  of  them.  Those  who  were  not  executed 
were  dismissed,  and  the  troop  was  replaced  by  a  regular 
army,  organized  -  on  the  European  pattern  and  dependent 
on  the  Czar. 

Peter's  reforms  now  crowded  thick  and  fast.    Everything 


220 


Modern  Europe 


The  Church 
made  de- 
pendent on 
the  Czar. 


His  civiliz- 
ing labors. 


Peter  turns 
to  the  Baltic. 


foreign  was  fostered  at  the  expense  of  everything  national. 
He  introduced  western  dress.  By  means  of  a  tax  he  op- 
posed the  Russian  custom  of  wearing  long  beards,  and  arm- 
ing himself  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  occasionally,  with  his 
own  imperial  hand  did  execution  on  his  subjects.  Many 
were  the  superstitious  Russians  who  saw  in  this  revolution- 
ary hatred  of  beards  a  threat  directed  at  the  orthodox 
religion.  The  clergy  especially  became  increasingly  sus- 
picious of  Peter's  policy.  As  the  discontent  of  the  clergy 
was  a  danger  to  the  throne  and  a  hindrance  to  reforms, 
the  Czar  resolved  to  make  that  order  more  dependent  on 
himself.  When  the  patriarch  died  in  1 700,  Peter  committed 
the  functions  of  the  primate  to  a  synod  which  he  himself 
appointed  and  controlled,  and  thus  the  Czar  became  the 
head  of  the  Church  as  he  already  was  the  head  of  the 
state. 

To  enumerate  more  than  a  part  of  Peter's  activities  in 
behalf  of  his  state  is  quite  impossible.  He  invited  foreign 
colonists  and  mechanics  to  Russia  in  order  that  his  back- 
ward subjects  might  be  aided  by  the  best  instruction  of 
Europe ;  he  built  roads  and  canals ;  he  encouraged  com- 
merce and  industry;  and  he  erected  common  schools.  The 
fruits  of  these  vast  civilizing  labors  ripened  of  course  slowly, 
and  Peter  did  not  live  to  gather  them.  But  his  efforts  at 
making  himself  strong  through  a  navy  and  army,  and  at 
extending  his  territory  to  the  sea,  were  crowned  with  a 
number  of  brilliant  and  almost  immediate  successes. 

After  his  return  from  the  west,  Peter  was  more  desirous 
than  ever  of  gaining  a  hold  on  the  Baltic.  Azov,  on  the 
Black  Sea,  was  worth  little  to  him  as  long  as  the  Turks 
held  the  Dardanelles.  The  west,  it  was  clear,  could  be 
best  gained  by  the  northern  route.  But  the  enterprise  was 
far  from  easy.  The  Baltic  coast  was  largely  held  by 
Sweden,  and  Sweden,  the  first  power  of  the  north,   was 


The  Rise  of  Russia  221 

prepared  to  resist  any  attempt  to  displace  her  with  all  her 
energy. 

The  rise  of  Sweden  to  the  position  of  the  first  power  of  The  great- 
the  north  dates  from  the  time  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  (i6i  i-  Sweden. 
32).  Gustavus  extended  his  rule  over  almost  the  whole 
of  the  northern  and  eastern  shore  of  the  Baltic,  and  by 
his  interference  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  his  daughter 
Christina,  who  succeeded  him,  acquired,  as  her  share  in  the 
German  booty,  western  Pommerania  and  the  land  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Weser  and  the  Elbe  (1648).  Sweden  was 
now  for  a  short  time  the  rival  of  France  for  the  first  honors 
in  Europe.  Unfortunately,  her  power  rested  solely  on  her 
military  organization,  not  on  her  people  and  her  resources, 
and,  as  experience  proves,  no  purely  military  state  is  likely 
to  live  long.  But  as  the  Swedish  rulers  of  the  seventeenth 
century  were  capable  men,  especially  in  war,  they  succeeded 
in  maintaining  the  supremacy  which  Gustavus  had  won. 
However,  they  injured  and  antagonized  so  many  neighbors 
that  it  was  only  a  question  of  time  when  these  neighbors 
would  combine  against  the  common  foe.  Denmark  to 
the  west,  Brandenburg-Prussia  to  the  south,  Poland  and 
Russia  to  the  east,  had  all  paid  for  Sweden's  exaltation 
with  severe  losses,  and  nursed  a  deep  grudge  against  her  in 
patience  and  silence.  The  long  awaited  opportunity  for  The  league 
revenge  seemed  at  length  to  have  arrived,  when  in  the  year  poiand^'and 
1697,  Charles  XII.,  a  boy  of  fifteen,  came  to  the  throne.  Russia.  1700. 
His  youth  and  inexperience  appeared  to  mark  him  as  an 
easy  victim.  Therefore,  Denmark,  Poland,  and  Russia 
now  formed  a  league  against  him  to  recover  their  lost  ter- 
ritories (1700). 

The  allies  had,  however,  made  their  reckoning  without  Charles  xii. 
the  host.     Charles  XII.  turned  out,  in  spite  of  his  youth,    °^  Sweden, 
to  be  the  most  warlike  member  of  a  warlike  race — a  perfect 
fighting  demon.   To  his  military  qualities  he  owes  his  great 


222 


Modern  Europe 


The  marvel- 
lous campaign 
of  1700, 


Victory  of 
Narva. 


reputation.  But  beyond  them  he  lacked  almost  every 
virtue  of  a  ruler.  Extravagantly  flighty  and  unreasonable,  he 
was  never  governed  by  a  consideration  of  the  welfare  of 
his  state,  but  always  shaped  his  policy  by  his  own  notions 
of  pride  and  honor.  He  was  Don  Quixote  promoted  to  a 
throne,  and  though  he  could  fight  with  admirable  fury 
against  windmills,  he  could  not  govern  and  he  could  not 
build.  In  the  year  1700  his  full  character  was  yet  undis- 
covered, and  people  stopped  open-mouthed  with  wonder, 
as  he  rose,  splendid,  like  a  rocket,  in  the  north. 

Before  the  coalition  was  ready  to  strike,  young  Charles 
gathered  his  troops  and  fell  upon  the  enemy.  As  the  forces 
of  Denmark^  Poland,  and  Russia  were  necessarily  widely 
separated,  he  calculated  that  if  he  could  meet  them  in  turn, 
the  likelihood  of  victory  would  be  much  increased.  He 
laid  his  plans  accordingly.  In  the  spring  of  1700,  he 
suddenly  crossed  from  Sweden  to  the  island  of  Seeland,  and 
besieged  Copenhagen.  The  king  of  Denmark,  unprepared 
for  so  bold  a  step,  had  to  give  way,  and  readily  signed 
with  Charles  the  Peace  of  Travendal  (August,  1700),  in 
which  he  promised  to  remain  neutral  during  the  remainder 
of  the  war.  The  ink  of  this  document  was  hardly  dry  be- 
fore Charles  was  off  again  like  a  flash.  This  time  he  sailed 
to  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  where  Peter  was  besieging  Narva. 
Peter  had  with  him  at  Narva  some  50,000  men,  while 
Charles  was  at  the  head  of  only  8,000  ;  but  Charles,  never- 
theless, ordered  the  attack,  and  his  well-disciplined  Swedes 
soon  swept  the  confused  masses  of  the  ill-trained  Russians 
off  the  field  like  chaff.  The  Russians  now  fell  back  into 
the  interior,  and  Charles  was  free  to  turn  upon  his  last  and 
most  hated  enemy,  August  the  Strong,  king  of  Poland. 
Before  another  year  had  passed,  Charles  had  defeated 
August  as  roundly  as  the  sovereigns  of  Denmark  and  Russia. 

Thus  far  the  war  had  been  managed  admirably.     Charles 


The  Rise  of  Russia  223 

might  have  made  his  conditions  and  gone  home.  But  ob-  Charles's  mis- 
stinate  as  he  was,  he  preferred  to  have  revenge  on  August, 
whom  he  regarded  as  the  instigator  of  the  alliance.  He 
resolved  not  to  give  up  until  he  had  forced  his  adversary  to 
resign  the  Polish  crown,  and  had  appointed  as  successor  a 
personal  adherent.  But  an  attempt  such  as  this,  necessi- 
tated getting  Poland  into  his  hands.  The  difficult  and 
ambitious  plan  led  to  the  undoing  of  his  first  successes,  and 
finally,  to  the  ruin  of  his  life. 

Poland  was  at  this  time  in  a  condition  hardly  better  than  Anarchy  in 
anarchy.  The  nobles  held  all  the  power  and  were  sover- 
eign on  their  own  lands.  The  only  remaining  witnesses  of 
a  previous  unity  were  a  Diet,  which  never  transacted  any 
business,  and  an  elected  king,  who  was  allowed  no  power 
and  had  nothing  to  do.  In  the  year  1697,  the  Poles 
had  even  elected  to  the  kingship  a  foreigner,  August  the 
Strong,  elector  of  Saxony.  Now  when  in  the  year  1 701  King 
August  was  defeated  by  Charles,  the  majority  of  the  Poles 
were  glad  rather  than  sorry,  for  August  had  engaged  in  the 
war  with  his  Saxon  troops,  and  without  asking  the  consent 
of  the  Polish  Diet ;  but  when  Charles  began  making  con- 
quests in  Poland  and  insisted  on  forcing  a  monarch  of  his 
own  choosing  on  the  Poles,  a  national  party  naturally 
gathered  around  August,  who,  although  a  foreigner,  was, 
nevertheless,  the  rightful  king. 

For  many  years  following  the  brilliant  campaign  of  1700  Charles  in 
Charles  hunted  August  over  the  marshy  and  wooded  plains 
of  Poland.  Always  victorious,  he  could  never  quite  suc- 
ceed in  utterly  crushing  his  enemy.  Even  his  taking  War- 
saw and  crowning  his  dependant,  Stanislaus  Lesczinski, 
king,  did  not  change  the  situation.  Finally,  in  1706, 
Charles  decided  on  a  radical  measure.  He  suddenly  in- 
vaded Saxony,  in  order  to  injure  August  in  that  part  of  his 
possessions  from  which  he  drew  his  largest  revenues.     As 


224 


Modern  Europe 


The  progress 
of  Peter. 


Pultava,  1709. 


Russia  takes 
the  place  of 
Sweden. 


Saxony  was  a  part  of  the  Empire,  Charles's  act  of  aggres- 
sion drew  upon  him  an  angry  protest  from  the  emperor. 
But  luckily  for  Charles,  the  emperor  was  then  engaged  with 
all  his  resources  in  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  and 
dared  not  raise  up  against  himself  another  enemy.  Thus 
Saxony  left  to  herself  succumbed  to  her  invader,  and  August 
was  forced  to  sign  a  peace  in  which  he  acknowledged  his 
rival,  Stanislaus,  king  of  Poland.  Of  course,  a  peace  signed 
under  such  conditions  was  illusory.  In  fact,  August  broke 
it  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  offered. 

But  the  peace  with  August  at  length  set  Charles  free  to 
act  against  the  Russians.  Too  much  time  had  been  lost 
already,  for  since  Peter's  defeat  at  Narva,  great  things  had 
happened.  The  Czar  had  indeed  fallen  back,  but  he  was 
resolutely  determined  to  try  again,  and  while  Charles  was, 
during  six  long  years,  pursuing  spectres  in  Poland,  Peter 
carefully  reorganized  his  troops,  and  conquered  half  the 
Baltic  provinces  (Ingria,  Carelia,  Livonia,  Esthonia).  In 
1703  he  founded  on  the  newly  acquired  territory  the  city 
of  St.  Petersburg,  destined  to  become  the  modern  capital 
of  Russia. 

Charles,  following  his  usual  method,  immediately  after 
having  wrung  a  peace  from  August  resolved  on  a  decisive 
stroke  against  the  Russians.  He  marched  (1707)  for  the 
old  capital,  Moscow,  very  much  like  Napoleon  one  hundred 
years  later.  But  he  was  defeated  by  the  hardships  of  the 
march  and  the  rigors  of  the  climate  before  he  met  the  enemy. 
When  Peter  came  up  with  him  at  Pultava  (1709),  the 
Swedes  fought  with  their  accustomed  bravery,  but  their 
sufferings  had  worn  them  out.  And  now,  Narva  was 
avenged.  The  Swedish  army  was  literally  destroyed,  and 
Charles,  accompanied  by  a  few  hundred  horsemen,  barely 
succeeded  in  making  his  escape  to  Turkey.  The  verdict 
of  Pultava  was  destined  to  be  final.    Sweden  stepped  down 


The  Rise  of  Russia  225 

from  her  position  of  great  power  into  obscurity,  and  a  new 
power,  Russia,  henceforth  ruled  in  the  north. 

As  for  Charles,  the  Sultan  received  the  famous  warrior  Charles  at 
kindly,  and  offered  him  Bender  for  a  residence.  There  Turkey. 
Charles  remained  five  years — long  enough  to  make  Bender 
the  name  of  one  of  the  maddest  chapters  of  his  madcap 
career.  While  at  Bender,  he  held  it  to  be  the  business  of 
his  life  to  drag  the  Sultan  into  a  war  with  Peter ;  but  the 
Sultan,  whose  states  were  in  decay,  long  refused  to  meet  his 
wishes.  When  he  did  give  way  (17 11),  the  first  campaign 
came  near  ending  in  a  signal  triumph,  for  Peter,  who  was 
no  general,  allowed  himself  and  his  whole  army  to  be  caught 
in  a  trap ;  but  at  the  suggestion  of  Peter's  clever  wife,  the 
Grand  Vizier,  who  led  the  Turkish  forces,  was  offered  a 
bribe,  and  as  a  result  Peter  was  allowed  to  slip  oft"  before 
Charles  had  his  revenge.  The  whole  bad  adventure  merely 
cost  Peter  Azov,  on  the  Black  Sea.  As  for  Charles  he 
raved  like  a  madman  on  seeing  his  foe  escape,  and  when 
the  Sultan,  tired  of  the  impertinence  of  the  eternal  meddler, 
requested  him,  a  little  later,  to  leave  his  territory,  Charles 
obstinately  refused  to  budge.  It  took  a  regular  siege  to 
bring  him  to  understand  that  his  entertainment  in  Turkey 
was  over,  and  even  then  he  fought  like  a  demon  upon  the 
roof  of  his  burning  house  until  he  fell  senseless.  At  length, 
after  an  absence  of  five  years,  he  turned  his  face  homeward 
(17 14). 

But  Charles  returned  too  late  to  stem  the  ebb  of  the 
Swedish  destinies.  The  surrounding  powers  had  taken  ad- 
vantage of  the  king's  long  absence  to  help  themselves  to 
whatever  part  of  Sweden  they  coveted.  Charles  met  them, 
indeed,  with  his  accustomed  valor,  but  his  country  was 
exhausted,  and  his  people  alienated.  In  1 7 18,  while  besieg-  The  death  of 
ing  Frederikshald  in  Norway,  he  was  killed  in  the  trenches,  ^^^^^^^'  ^7i8. 
the  probability  being  that  he  was  shot  by  a  Swedish  traitor. 


226  Modern  Etirope 


His  sister,  Ulrica  Eleanor,  who  succeeded  him,  was  com- 
pelled by  the  aristocratic  party  to  agree  to  a  serious  lim- 
itation of  the  royal  prerogative.  Then  the  tired  Swedes 
hastened  to  sign  a  peace  with  their  enemies.  Denmark 
agreed  to  the  principle  of  mutual  restitutions ;  the  German 
states  of  Hanover  and  Brandenburg  acquired  payments  out 
The  Russian  of  the  Swedish  provinces  in  Germany ;  August  the  Strong 
acquisi  ions.  received  recognition  as  king  of  Poland  ;  but  Peter,  who 
had  contributed  the  most  to  the  defeat  of  Charles,  got  too, 
by  the  Treaty  of  Nystadt  (1721),  the  lion's  share  of  the 
booty  :  Carelia,  Ingria,  Esthonia,  and  Livonia,  in  fact, 
all  the  Swedish  possessions  of  the  eastern  Baltic  except 
Finland. 
The  execution  Peter  was  now  nearing  the  end  of  his  reign.  His  rule 
had  brought  Russia  a  new  splendor,  but  though  he  could 
enumerate  successes  such  as  fall  to  the  lot  of  very  few  men, 
he  was  not  spared  defeat  and  chagrin.  For  one  thing  his 
efforts  in  behalf  of  Russian  civilization  were  not  appreci- 
ated. The  Russians  objected  to  being  lifted  out  of  their 
barbarism,  and  it  took  all  of  Peter's  iron  will  to  exact 
obedience  to  his  measures  of  reform.  Under  the  circum- 
stances the  national  party,  which  directed  the  opposition 
to  Peter,  soon  fixed  its  hopes  upon  Peter's  son  and  heir, 
Alexis,  and  Alexis,  for  his  part,  shunned  no  trouble  to 
exhibit  his  sympathy  with  a  reactionary  policy.  With  a 
heavy  heart  Peter  had  to  face  the  possibility  of  a  successor 
who  would  undo  his  cherished  life-work.  For  years  he 
took  pains  to  win  Alexis  over  to  his  views,  but  when  his 
efforts  proved  without  avail,  he  resolved,  for  the  sake  of 
the  state,  to  strike  his  son  down.  The  resolution  we  may 
praise;  the  method  was  terrible.  It  exhibited  once  more 
all  of  Peter's  latent  savagery.  The  Czarowitz  was  tortured 
in  prison  until  he  died  (17 18),  and  the  probability  is  that 
the  father  presided  in  person  at  the  execution  of  the  son. 


The  Rhe  of  Russia  227 

When  Peter  died  (1725),  it  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  Catharine  ii., 
Russia  would  return  to  her  former  Asiatic  condition.  The  ^^  ^"^  " 
government  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  succession  of  dissolute, 
incompetent  Czarinas,  who  had  few  interests  in  life  beyond 
their  own  pleasures.  Out  of  this  sorry  plight  the  country 
was  drawn  by  the  accession  of  a  remarkable  woman,  who 
had  enough  good  sense  to  accept  the  traditions  of  Peter's 
reign,  and  enough  power  to  continue  them.  This  was 
Catharine  IL,  the  wife  of  Peter  III.  Catharine,  by  birth 
a  petty  princess  of  Germany,  had  married  Peter  III.  when 
he  was  heir-apparent.  She  was  not  only  intelligent  and 
energetic,  but  also  wholly  unscrupulous,  and  shortly  after 
Peter  III.,  who  was  crochety  and  half  insane,  had  as- 
cended the  throne  (1762),  she  had  him  strangled  by  two 
of  her  favorites.  Although  she  thus  acquired  the  supreme 
power  by  means  of  a  crime,  once  in  possession  of  it,  she 
wielded  it  with  consummate  skill.  Being  of  western  birth, 
she  naturally  favored  western  civilization.  Peter  the  Great 
himself  had  not  been  more  anxious  to  found  schools,  and 
create  industries  and  a  commerce.  More  important  still, 
she  took  up  Peter's  idea  of  expansion  toward  the  west. 

With    Sweden   annihilated    by   Peter,    the   only   other   Catharine 
European  powers  which  pressed  upon  Russia,  were  Poland    ditroy"^Po- 
and  Turkey.     Poland  lay  across  the  land-route  which  led    }^"d  and 
from  Russia  to  the  west,  and  Turkey  held  the  water-route 
which  led  to  Europe  by  the  Black  Sea.     Catharine  gave  her 
life  to  the  abasement  of  these  two  European  neighbors,  and 
before  she  died  she  had  succeeded  in  destroying  Poland  and 
in  bringing  Turkey  to  her  feet. 

The  hopeless  anarchy  of  Poland  had  been  brought  home    Polish 
to  everyone  in  Europe,  when  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden  sue-    Tib^rZnveto. 
ceeded  in  holding  the  country  for  a  number  of  years  with 
a  mere  handful  of  troops  (i 702-1 707).     The  weakness  of 
the  country  was  due  to  the  selfish  nobles  and  their  impos- 


228 


Modern  Europe 


Russia, 

Prussia,  and 
Austria 
equally 
responsible 
for  the  par- 
tition. 


The  First  Par- 
tition, 1772. 


sible  constitution.  To  realize  the  ludicrous  unfitness  of 
this  instrument,  one  need  only  recall  the  famous  provision 
called  liberum  veto,  which  conferred  on  every  noble  the 
right  to  forbid  by  his  single  veto  the  adoption  by  the  Diet 
of  a  measure  distasteful  to  himself.  By  liberum  veto  one 
man  could  absolutely  stop  the  machinery  of  government. 
Under  these  circumstances  Poland  fell  a  prey  to  internal 
conflicts,  and  soon  to  ambitious  foreign  neighbors.  As  it 
is  a  universal  law  that  the  weak  are  exposed  to  destruction 
from  the  strong,  Poland  has  herself  to  thank  in  the  first 
place  for  the  ruin  that  overtook  her  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. But  that  fact,  of  course,  does  not  exempt  from  guilt 
the  powers  that  threw  themselves  upon  her  like  beasts  of 
prey,  and  rent  her  asunder. 

It  is  useless  to  investigate  what  one  person  or  power  is 
responsible  for  the  idea  of  the  partition  of  Poland.  The 
idea  was  in  the  air,  and  the  three  powers  which  bordered 
on  Poland  and  benefited  from  the  partition — Russia,  Aus- 
tria, and  Prussia — must  share  the  odium  of  the  act  among 
them.  It  is,  however,  true  that,  of  the  three  co-oper- 
ating sovereigns — Catharine  of  Russia,  Frederick  the  Great 
of  Prussia,  and  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria — Catharine  and 
Frederick  appear  in  a  much  severer  light  than  Maria 
Theresa,  who  long  held  out  against  her  son  and  her  prime 
minister  when  they  urged  the  necessity  of  participating  in 
the  proposed  robbery. 

Diplomatically  considered,  the  First  Partition  of  Poland 
was  a  triumph  for  Frederick  the  Great ;  for  Catharine  was 
counting  on  swallowing  the  whole  booty,  when  Frederick 
stepped  in,  and  by  associating  Austria  with  himself  forced 
the  Czarina  to  divide  with  her  neighl)ors.  The  First  Par- 
tition belonging  to  the  year  1772  did  not  destroy  Poland. 
It  simply  peeled  off  slices  for  the  lucky  highwaymen  ;  the 
land  beyond  the  Dwina  went  to  Russia,  Galicia  to  Austria, 


The  Rise  of  Russia  229 

and    the  Province   of  West   Prussia  to  Prussia.     But   the 
principle  of  interference  had  been  once  estabhshed,  and  a 
few  years  later  the  fate  of  Poland  was  sealed  by  a  Second   The  Second 
and  a  Third  Partition  (1793  and  1795)-     Poland  ceased   udons. '1793^^' 
to  exist  as  a  state,   when  her  last  army,  gallantly  led  by   ^795- 
Kosciusko,  went  down  before  the  Russians ;  but  as  a  peo- 
ple, she  exists  to  this  day,  and  stubbornly  nurses  in  her 
heart  the  hope  of  a  resurrection. 

Her  signal  success  over  the  Poles  excited  Catharine  to  Catharine's 
increased  efforts  against  the  Turks.  In  two  wars  (first  war,  overtheTurks. 
1768-74;  second  war,  1787-92),  she  succeeded  in  utterly 
defeating  the  Turks,  and  in  extending  her  territory  along 
the  Black  Sea  to  the  Dniester.  It  was  a  fair  acquisi- 
tion, but  it  did  not  satisfy  her  ambitious  nature.  She 
dreamed  of  getting  Constantinople,  and  left  that  dream  as  a 
heritage  to  her  successors.  ,  They  have  cherished  it  dearly, 
and  during  the  hundred  years  since  her  death  they  have 
struggled  patiently  to  push  their^  frontiers  to  the  Bosporus. 

Catharine  left  Russia  at  her  death  (1796)  the  greatest 
power  of  the  north.  Her  life,  like  that  of  Peter,  is  stained 
with  crime  and  immorality,  but  these  two  have  the  honor 
of  having  lifted  Russia  almost  without  aid,  and  often  in 
spite  of  herself,  to  her  present  eminent  position. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   RISE    OF    PRUSSIA    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    AND    EIGH- 
TEENTH   CENTURIES 


The  develop- 
ment of  Bran- 
denburg. 


The  Hohen- 
zoUern  take 
hold  of  Bran- 
denburg. 


The  modern  kingdom  of  Prussia  has  developed,  by  a 
gradual  process,  out  of  the  ancient  mark  of  Brandenburg. 
The  mark  of  Brandenburg  was  founded  in  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, when  Germany  was  practically  confined  to  the  terri- 
tory between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  as  a  bulwark  against 
the  Slavs,  who  were  constantly  pushing  in  from  the  east. 
With  the  increasing  strength  of  Germany,  the  mark  as- 
sumed the  aggressive,  crowded  back  the  heathen  Slavs  foot 
by  foot  from  the  Elbe  to  the  Oder  and  beyond,  and  took 
their  land  in  possession  for  German  and  Christian  civiHza- 
tion.  Before  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  mark 
had  become  a  considerable  state,  and  was  organized  as  one 
of  the  four  lay  electorates  of  the  kingdom  of  Germany. 
But  the  race  of  fighting  margraves,  known  as  the  Ascanians, 
to  whom  Brandenburg  owed  its  extension,  died  out  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  for  some  time  there  reigned  such 
confusion  that  the  electorate  threatened  to  fall  back  into 
barbarism.  Out  of  this  anarchy  it  was  saved  by  the  for- 
tunate accession  pf  the  line  of  Hohenzollern  margraves, 
who  have  guided  its  destinies  to  this  day. 

The  Hohenzollern  proved  themselves,  in  general,  a  fam- 
ily of  tough  fibre,  who  by  patient  labor  raised  themselves 
from  rung  to  rung  of  the  ladder  of  dignities,  until  in  our 
day  the  head  of  the  House  has  become  emperor  of  re- 
united  Germany.      But  before  the  year   1415,  when  the 

230 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  231 

Hohenzollern,  Frederick,  was  invested  with  the  electorate 
of  Brandenburg,  the  family  had  not  filled  a  large  role  in 
the  history  of  Germany.  In  the  south,  in  Franconia, 
where  they  were  settled,  they  had  hardly  been  more  than 
respectable  nobles. 

Frederick  of  Hohenzollern  took  up  his  task  in  his  new  The  Hohen- 
acquisition  of  Brandenburg  with  energy,  brought  back  the  Rhim?"'"^^ 
order,  and  mapped  out  the  lines  of  future  progress.  One  provinces  and 
hundred  years  later,  his  successor,  Joachim  II.,  the  con- 
temporary of  Luther,  ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  the 
Reformation  without,  however,  arriving  at  anything  like 
such  a  role  in  the  religious  history  of  the  period  as  the 
elector  of  Saxony.  It  was  in  fact  not  till  the  seventeenth 
century  that  the  margrave  of  Brandenburg  began  to  outstrip 
all  the  other  princes  of  the  Empire,  for  under  the  Elector 
John  Sigismund  (1608-19)  ^^  family  fell  heir  to  two  lucky 
legacies,  which  secured  for  it  considerable  territories  in  the 
extreme  east  and  in  the  extreme  west  of  Germany.  In 
1609  this  John  Sigismund  acquired,  by  the  death  of  the  last 
duke  of  Cleves  and  Juliers  (Julich),  a  share  of  the  duke's 
dominions,  and  in  1618  he  succeeded  to  the  duchy  of 
Prussia. 

The  term  Prussia  was  applied  rather  indefinitely  in  the  History  of 
Middle  Age  to  the  land  which  lay  along  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  Baltic.  The  country  owed  its  name  to  the  heathen 
and  Slav  tribe  of  Prussians,  who  had  held  it  before  the 
order  of  the  Teutonic  Knights  had,  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, conquered  them,  and  won  their  land  for  the  German 
nation.  Prussia  was  gradually  settled  by  German  colonists 
and  was  ruled  by  the  Knights,  under  their  Grand  Master, 
in  full  independence,  until  the  king  of  Poland,  as  the  re- 
sult of  a  successful  war,  annexed 'the  western  half  of  the 
territory  (West  Prussia),  and  gave  back  to  the  Knights  the 
eastern  half  (East  Prussia),  solely  on  condition  that  they  hold 


232 


Modern  Europe 


^/ 


Poor  showing 
during  the 
Thirty  Years' 
War. 


Acquisitions 
made  at 
Peace  of 
Westphaha. 


it  as  a  fief  of  his  crown  (the  Treaty  of  Thorn,  1466).  In  the 
history  of  this  province  of  East  Prussia  the  great  Protestant 
movement  of  the  sixteenth  century  effected  an  important 
change.  The  Grand  Master  of  the  Knights,  Albert,  a 
younger  member  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern,  adopted  in 
1525  the  Protestant  faith,  and  thereupon,  with  the  consent 
of  his  PoHsh  suzerain,  converted  the  Prussian  dominion  of 
the  Teutonic  Knights  into  a  duchy  with  himself  as  duke. 
In  1 61 8,  Albert's  line  having  failed,  the  duchy  of  Prussia, 
or  more  exactly  East  Prussia,  fell  to  Albert's  relative  of 
Brandenburg. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  there  broke  out  in  Germany  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  The  combined  Hohenzollern  possess- 
ions along  the  lower  Rhine,  in  Brandenburg,  and  in  East 
Prussia,  should  have  made  the  elector  of  that  period,  George 
Wilham  (1619-40),  an  important  factor  in  the  struggle; 
but  as  he  was  a  man  without  courage  and  intelligence,  and 
too  fearful  to  throw  in  his  lot  definitely  with  either  emperor 
or  Swedes,  his  lands  were  equally  harried  by  both.  It  was 
left  to  George  William's  son,  Frederick  William  (1640-88), 
known  as  the  Great  Elector,  to  carry  the  name  of  Branden- 
burg into  European  politics. 

When  Frederick  William  succeeded  to  the  throne  (1640), 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  had  reduced  his  lands  to  the  utmost 
misery.  He  straightway  adopted  a  vigorous  policy,  ex- 
pelled both  Swedes  and  Imperialists  from  his  states,  and 
in  general  displayed  such  energy,  that,  when  the  Peace  of 
Westphalia  (1648)  was  signed,  he  received  a  number  of 
valuable  additions  of  territory — namely,  the  three  secular- 
ized bishoprics  of  Halberstadt,  Minden,  and  Magdeburg, 
and  the  eastern  half  of  Pomerania.  Brandenburg  had  a 
valid  claim  to  all  of  Pomerania,  but  the  claim  could  not  be 
realized,  as  a  great  power,  Sweden,  took  the  western  and 
better  half  of  Pomerania  for  herself. 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  233 

Frederick  William  found  himself,  at  his  accession,  at  the  He  unifies  his 
head  of  three  groups  of  territories — the  Brandenburg  terri-  torfe^s!^^^^' 
tories,  the  Cleves  territories,  and  the  Prussian  territories — 
and  each  group  was  organized  as  a  separate  little  state  with 
its  own  Diet  (Landstande),  its  own  army,  and  its  own  ad- 
ministration. Frederick  William,  after  a  hard  struggle, 
replaced  the  government  of  the  Landstande  by  his  absolu- 
tism ;  declared  the  local  army  national ;  and  merged  the 
three  separate  administrations.  He  thus  amalgamated  his 
three  states  into  one,  and  to  all  intents  and  purposes  created 
a  united  monarchy  of  which  he  was  absolute  master.  As 
he  was  a  tireless  worker,  his  influence  was  bound  to  be 
felt  in  many  ways.  He  encouraged  industry  and  agricult- 
ure ;  he  drained  marshes ;  and  he  built  the  celebrated 
Frederick  William  canal,  which  joins  the  Elbe  and  the 
Oder.  He  was  constantly  drawing  colonists  into  his 
dominions,  and  when  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes  (1685)  drove  so  many  Huguenots  into  exile,  the 
Great  Elector's  warm  intercession  in  their  behalf,  attracted 
to  Brandenburg  some  20,000  of  them,  who  were  settled 
around  Berlin,  and  succeeded,  in  the  course  of  a  few  gene- 
rations, in  turning  the  sand-wastes  which  encompass  the 
capital  into  a  pleasant  garden. 

Frederick  William    was    also    a   man    of  large   political   Frederick 

Tjr  1       1        ^  .^  ^  (.  (.  William 

Views,  if  he  kept  an  army  it  was  not  for  purposes  of  pa- 
rade; he  wished  to  maintain  himself  against  his  neighbors, 
and  to  be  ready,  when  the  chance  came,  to  extend  his  do-  ereignty, 
minion.  The  "result  of  this  alertness  was  that  he  became 
involved  in  many  wars.  In  the  Northern  War,  between 
Sweden  and  Poland  (1655-60),  begun  by  the  restless  spirit 
of  Charles  X.  of  Sweden,  the  successor  of  Queen  Christina, 
he  made  himself  so  invaluable  to  both  sides,  that  by  skilful 
and  unscrupulous  manoeuvring,  he  induced  the  king  of 
Poland  to  renounce  the  suzerainty  of  East  Prussia,  and  give 


acquires 
East  Prussia 
in  lull  sov- 


234 


Modern  Europe 


He  defeats 
the  Swedes. 


The  Silesian 
dispute. 


the  duchy  to  him  in  full  sovereignty.  This  was  his  greatest 
political  triumph. 

A  much  greater  military  triumph  he  won  a  few  years  later. 
In  1672,  Louis  XIV.  fell  upon  Holland,  and  Frederick  Will- 
iam, together  with  the  emperor,  marched  to  the  assistance 
of  the  hard-pressed  Republic.  In  order  to  draw  the  elec- 
tor back  from  the  Rhine,  Louis  now  persuaded  the  Swedes, 
his  only  ally,  to  invade  Brandenburg.  The  elector  there- 
upon hastened  homeward  at  his  best  speed,  and  succeeded 
in  surprising  and  utterly  defeating  the  Swedes  at  Fehrbellin 
(June,  1675).  The  military  reputation  of  Brandenburg 
was  henceforth  established,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next 
few  years  the  elector  clinched  matters  by  driving  the  Swedes 
completely  out  of  Pomerania.  But  when  the  general  Euro- 
pean war  came  to  an  end,  by  the  Treaty  of  Nimwegen 
(1678),  Frederick  William  was  not  allowed  to  keep  his 
conquest.  Louis  XIV.  stood  faithfully  by  his  ally,  Sweden, 
and  insisted  that  she  should  not  pay  for  her  help  to  him  by 
territorial  sacrifices.  With  a  sore  heart,  Frederick  William 
had  to  give  way,  and  in  a  treaty,  signed  near  Paris,  at  St. 
Germain-en-Laye  (1679),  ^^  regretfully  restored  to  the 
Swedes  what  he  had  won. 

After  this  disappointment  he  tried  to  advance  his  inter- 
ests in  Silesia,  where  the  House  of  Hohenzollern  had  an- 
cient claims  to  certain  provinces.  Silesia,  whether  rightly 
or  wrongly,  was  held  at  this  time  by  the  emperor,  and 
the  emperor  did  not  choose  to  regard  the  elector's  claims 
as  valid.  As  the  emperor  was  the  stronger,  he  could 
afford  to  insist  on  his  point  of  view.  But  the  time  came 
when  the  emperor  was  preparing  a  great  league  against 
France,  and  then  Frederick  William  with  his  fine  army 
was  wanted  as  an  ally.  The  emperor,  who  was  Leopold 
I.,  thereupon  declared  his  willingness  to  adjudicate  the 
differences  between  himself  and  Brandenburg,  and  finally, 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  235 

after  many  negotiations,  he  induced  Frederick  William  to 
sign  away,  in  return  for  the  district  of  Schwiebus  in  Silesia, 
all  his  other  rights  in  that  province  (1686).  But  the  em- 
peror played  a  double  game.  While  one  agent  was  ne- 
gotiating this  arrangement  with  the  elector,  another  was 
persuading  the  elector's  son,  who  was  not  on  good  terms 
with  his  father,  to  take  a  sum  of  money,  and  promise,  in 
return,  to  give  back  Schwiebus  on  his  accession.  Two 
years  later  Frederick  William  died  (1688),  and  his  son 
Frederick,  who  succeeded  him,  had  to  live  up  to  the  bar- 
gain. However,  he  expressly  insisted  that  the  restoration 
of  Schwiebus  involved  the  revival  of  all  those  rights  to  the 
Silesian  territories  which  had  been  signed  away.  This 
Silesian  incident  is  of  importance,  because  it  turned  up 
again  some  fifty  years  later,  and  then  the  Machiavellian 
triumph  of  the  emperor  Leopold  drew  upon  the  House  of 
Hapsburg  a  terrible  catastrophe. 

The  elector  Frederick  was  a  very  different  man  from  his   The  elector 
shrewd,  practical  father.     Having  been  weak  and  deformed   in  pjus^sla/"^ 
from  his  birth  and  incapable  of  hard  work,  he  had  learned    ^^oi- 
to  care  very  much  more  about  the  pleasures  of  the  court  than 
about  the  duties  of  his  office.      His  reign  is  memorable  for 
one  fact  only :  Frederick  won  for  the  elector  of  Brandenburg 
the  new  title  of  king  in  Prussia.     The  title  was  granted  by 
the  emperor  Leopold,  in  order  to  secure  Frederick's  alliance 
in  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  which  was  just  break-        7^ 
ing  out.     On  January   18,   1701,  the  coronation  of  Fred- 
erick took  place  at  Konigsberg,  the  capital  of  East  Prussia,    ^ 
and  henceforth  the  Elector  Frederick  HL  of  Brandenburg 
was  known  by  his  higher  title  of  King  Frederick  L  in  Prus- 
sia.^    The  title,  king  in  Prussia,  was  adopted  in  preference 


iThe  form  of  the  title,  king  in  Prussia,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  all  of 
Prussia  did  not  belong  to  the  Hohenzollern  ;  Poland  still  held  the  western 
half,  and  might  reasonably  have  objected  to  the  title,  king  c;/"  Prussia. 


236 


Modern  Europe 


Frederick 
William  I.,  the 
great  internal 
king,  1713-40. 


Creation  of 
the  Prussian 
bureaucracy. 


Frederick 
William's 
one  war. 


to  that  of  king  of  Brandenburg,  because  Frederick  wished 
to  be  king  in  full  independence,  and  that  was  possible  only 
in  Prussia,  as  Prussia  was  not  a  part  of  the.  Empire.  The 
name  Prussia  was  henceforth  used  as  a  common  designation 
for  all  the  Hohenzollern  states,  and  gradually  supplanted 
the  use  of  the  older  designation,  Brandenburg. 

Frederick's  successor.  King  Frederick  William  I.  (1713- 
40),  is  a  curious  reversion  to  an  older  type.  He  was  the 
Great  Elector  over  again,  with  all  his  practical  good  sense, 
but  without  his  genius  for  diplomatic  business  and  his  polit- 
ical ambition.  He  gave  all  his  time  and  his  attention  to 
the  army  and  the  administration.  By  close  thrift  he  man- 
aged to  maintain  some  80,000  troops,  which  almost  brought 
his  army  up  to  the  standing  armies  of  such  states  as  France 
and  Austria.  And  what  troops  they  were  !  An  iron  dis- 
cipline moulded  them  into  the  most  precise  military  engine 
then  to  be  found  in  Europe,  and  a  corps  of  officers  which 
did  not  buy  its  commissions,  as  everywhere  else  at  that  time, 
but  was  appointed  strictly  by  virtue  of  merit,  applied  to  it  a 
trained  and  devoted  service.  In  his  civil  administration  he 
continued  the  work  of  centralizing  the  various  departments, 
which  was  inaugurated  by  the  Great  Elector.  A  ''General 
Directory  "  took  complete  control  of  the  finances,  and  its 
severe  demands  gradually  called  into  being  the  famous 
Prussian  bureaucracy,  which  in  spite  of  its  inevitable  '*  red 
tape,"  is  notable  to  this  day  for  its  effectiveness  and  its 
devotion  to  duty.  Certain  it  is  that  no  contemporary 
government  had  so  modern  and  so  thrifty  an  administration 
as  that  of  Frederick  William. 

For  these  creations  of  an  efficient  army  and  a  unified 
civil  service,  both  of  which  were  made  to  depend  directly 
and  solely  upon  the  crown,  and  for  a  healthy  financial  sys- 
tem, which  yielded  that  rare  blessing,  an  annual  surplus, 
Frederick  William  I.  deserves  to  be  called  Prussia's  greatest 


tricities. 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  237 

internal  king.  On  the  other  hand,  he  failed  to  win  for 
himself  in  Europe  a  position  commensurate  with  his  strength, 
because  he  was  completely  wanting  in  political  capacity. 
He  engaged  in  but  one  war.  In  1709  we  saw  that  Charles 
XII.  was  defeated  at  Pultava,  and  that  the  neighbors  of 
Sweden  made  use  of  the  opportunity  of  his  absence  in 
Turkey  to  divide  his  territories.  Frederick  William,  unable 
to  close  his  eyes  to  the  good  fortune  which  beckoned, 
joined  Russia,  Denmark,  and  Poland,  and  in  the  year  17 13 
took  possession  of  a  part  of  Swedish  Pomerania.  In  the 
peace  signed  after  Charles  XII. 's  death  (1720),  he  declared 
himself  contented  with  the  territory  around  Stettin,  thus 
acquiring  for  Prussia  at  last  a  convenient  port  upon  the 
Baltic. 

This  sturdy  king,  who  did  so  much  for  Prussia,  made  His  eccen- 
himself,  by  reason  of  his  personal  eccentricities,  the  laugh- 
ing-stock of  Europe.  His  ideal  of  the  king  was  the  patri- 
arch. He  had  his  eye  upon  everybody  and  everything. 
If  he  suspected  a  man  of  being  wealthy,  he  would  order  him 
to  build  a  fine  residence  to  improve  the  looks  of  the  capital. 
If  he  met  an  idler  in  the  streets  he  would  belabor  him  with 
his  cane,  and  end  by  putting  him  into  the  army.  But,  per- 
haps, his  wildest  eccentricity  was  his  craze  for  tall  soldiers. 
At  Potsdam,  his  country  residence,  he  established  a  giant- 
guard,  from  which  he  won  recruits  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  He  hung  over  his  giants  like  a  tender  father,  and 
was  so  completely  enslaved  by  his  hobby,  that  he,  who  was 
thrifty  to  the  point, of  avarice,  offered  enormous  prices  in 
all  markets  for  tall  men,  and  did  not  scruple  to  capture 
them  by  force  when  they  refused  to  enlist. 

This  unpolished  boor  naturally  kept  his  elegant  neigh- 
bors in  convulsions  of  laughter  by  his  performances.  At 
one  point,  however,  his  eccentricities  threatened  to  end 
not  in  laughter  but  in  tears.     The  king's  son  and  heir. 


238 


Modern  Europe 


The  youth  of 
Frederick 
the  Great 


Frederick's 

accession, 

1740. 


The  death  of 
Charles  VI., 
1740. 


Frederick,  known  afterward  as  the  Great,  was  a  self-willed, 
careless  fellow,  with  artistic  inclinations,  and  in  all  respects 
the  opposite  of  his  military,  practical  father.  Parent  and 
son  had  no  understanding  of  each  other,  and  when  Frederick 
William  attempted  by  corporal  punishment  to  coerce  his 
son,  the  proud  prince  resolved  to  run  away.  In  the  year 
1730  he  tried,  with  the  aid  of  some  friends,  to  carry  out  his 
design,  but  was  betrayed  at  the  moment  of  its  execution. 
Frederick  William  almost  lost  his  mind  from  rage.  He 
threw  his  son  into  prison,  and  for  a  time  was  determined  to 
have  him  executed  as  a  deserter.  When  the  crown  prince 
was  at  last  released,  he  was  put  through  such  a  training  in 
the  civil  and  military  administrations  from  the  lowest 
grades  upward,  as  perhaps  no  other  royal  personage  has 
ever  received.  The  disciphne  doubtless  awakened  resent- 
ment in  Frederick,  the  gay  prince;  but  Frederick,  the 
serious-minded  king,  was  enabled  thereby  to  know  every 
branch  of  his  vast  administration  like  a  thumbed  book. 

In  the  year  1740  Frederick  II.,  who  had  now  reached 
the  age  of  twenty-eight,  succeeded  his  boorish  father.  As 
he  had  spent  the  last  years  of  his  father's  life  in  retirement 
at  Rheinsberg,  where  he  had  gathered  around  himself  a 
circle  of  dilettanti,  and  given  himself  up  to  the  pursuit  of 
art  and  literature,  everything  else  was  expected  of  him, 
when  he  ascended  the  throne,  rather  than  military  designs 
and  political  ambition.  But  an  unexpected  opportunity 
brought  out  all  his  latent  mihtary  gifts. 

A  few  months  after  Frederick's  accession,  in  October, 
1740,  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.,  the  last  male  of  the  line 
of  Hapsburg,  died.  Long  before  his  death,  foreseeing  the 
troubles  that  would  arise,  he  had  by  a  law,  which  received 
the  name  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  appointed  his  oldest 
daughter,  Maria  Theresa,  his  sole  heir,  and  during  his 
whole  life  he  bestirred  himself  to  extract  from  the  European 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  239 

powers  guarantees  of  this  Pragmatic  Sanction.  These  guar- 
antees having  been  obtained  from  all  the  leading  states, 
sometimes  at  a  great  sacrifice,  he  died  with  composed  con- 
science, and  the  archduchess  Maria  Theresa  prepared 
immediately  to  assume  the  rule  of  Austria,  Bohemia, 
Hungary,  and  the  other  Hapsburg  lands.  It  was  at  this 
point  that  Frederick  stepped  in.  His  father  had  guaranteed 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  too,  but  Frederick  did  not  choose 
to  consider  that  circumstance.  He  thought  only  of  the  old 
Prussian  claims  to  parts  of  Silesia  and  this  unparalleled 
opportunity  to  realize  them  by  means  of  the  full  treasury 
and  the  large  army  of  his  father,  and  in  December,  1740, 
invaded  the  disputed  province.  His  act  was  the  signal  for 
a  general  rising.  Spain,  France,  Savoy,  Bavaria,  and  Sax- 
ony,  foUowine:  his  example,  all  dished  up  some  kind   of  Frederick  in- 

vades  Silesia, 
claim  to  parts  of  the  Austrian  dominions.     They  sent  their 

armies  against  Maria  Theresa,  and  their  greed  merely 
mocked  at  that  poor  princess's  indignant  remonstrances. 
Thus  hardly  was  Charles  VI.  dead,  when  it  was  apparent 
that  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  was  not  worth  the  paper  it  was 
written  on. 

It  might  have  gone  hard  with  Maria  Theresa  if  she  had  The  War  of 
not  found  splendid  resources  of  heart  and  mind  in  herself,  Succession. 
and  if  she  had  not  gained  the  undivided  support  of  the 
many  nationalities  under  her  sway.  Her  enemies  were 
descending  upon  her  in  two  main  directions,  the  French 
and  their  German  allies  from  the  west,  by  way  of  the 
Danube,  and  Frederick  of  Prussia  from  the  north.  Un- 
prepared as  she  was,  her  raw  levies  gave  way,  at  first,  at 
every  point.  On  April  10,  1741,  at  Mollwitz,  Frederick 
won  a  great  vicfory  over  the  Austrians,  clinching  by  means 
of  it  his  hold  upon  Silesia.  In  the  same  year  the  French, 
Saxons,  and  Bavarians  invaded  Bohemia.  So  complete, 
for  the  time  being,   was  the  dominion  of  the  anti -Austrian 


240 


Moderfi  Europe 


Charles  VII. 
of  Bavaria, 
emperor. 


End  of  the 
First  Silesian 
War,  1742. 


The  Second 
Silesian  War, 
1744-45- 


alliance  that  it  was  even  enabled  to  carry  the  election  of  its 
candidate,  the  elector  Charles  of  Bavaria,  for  the  imperial 
office.  The  elector  assumed  his  new  dignity  with  the  title 
of  Emperor  Charles  VII.  (1742-45),  and  for  the  first  time 
in  three  hundred  years  the  crown  of  the  Empire  rested 
upon  another  than  a  Hapsburg  head. 

But  at  this  point  Maria  Theresa's  fortunes  rose  again. 
Her  own  pure  enthusiasm  did  wonders  in  restoring  and 
organizing  her  scattered  forces.  The  army  of  the  coalition 
was  driven  out  of  Bohemia  ;  Bavaria  was  in  turn  invaded 
and  occupied.  The  Prussians,  who  had  likewise  entered 
Bohemia,  in  order  to  help  the  French,  were  hard  pressed, 
but  saved  themselves  by  a  victory  at  Czaslau  (May,  1742). 
Thereupon  Maria  Theresa,  who  saw  that  she  could  not  meet 
so  many  enemies  at  one  and  the  same  time,  declared  her 
willingness  to  come  to  terms  with  her  most  formidable  foe. 
In  1742  she  signed  with  Frederick  the  Peace  of  Breslau, 
by  which  she  gave  up  practically  the  whole  Province  of 
Silesia.  What  is  known  in  Prussia  as  the  First  Silesian  War 
had  come  to  an  end. 

Maria  Theresa  now  prosecuted  the  war  against  her  other 
enemies  with  increased  vigor.  England  and  Holland,  old 
friends  of  Austria,  joined  her,  and  the  war  assumed  wider 
dimensions.  During  the  next  years  the  French  consistently 
fell  back.  The  Emperor  Charles  VII.  lost  his  Bavarian 
dominions,  and  there  was  every  chance  that  Maria  Theresa 
would  become  master  of  Germany.  Aware  that  in  that 
case  he  could  not  hold  his  new  conquest  a  year,  Frederick 
was  moved  to  strike  a  second  blow.  In  1744  he  began 
the  Second  Silesian  War,  in  which  his  calculations  were 
completely  successful.  He  first  relieved  the  French  and 
the  Bavarians  by  drawing  the  Austrians  upon  himself,  and 
then  he  defeated  his  enemy  signally  at  the  battle  of  Hohen- 
friedberg  (i  745).     On  Christmas  day,  1 745,  Maria  Theresa 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  241 

bought  her  peace  of  Frederick  by  a  renewed  cession  of 
Silesia  (Peace  of  Dresden). 

For  a  few  more  years  the  general  war  continued.  After  End  of  the 
Frederick's  retirement  it  was  waged  chiefly  in  the  Austrian  Austrian  Suc- 
Netherlands,  where  a  newly  risen  French  general,  Maurice  cession,  1748. 
de  Saxe,  gave  Maria  Theresa  a  great  deal  to  do.  Finally, 
in  1748,  everybody  being  tired  of  fighting,  the  contestants 
signed  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  (Aachen),  by  which 
Maria  Theresa  was  universally  recognized  as  the  sovereign 
of  Austria.  Already  as  early  as  1745,  her  husband,  Fran- 
cis of  Lorraine,  had  been  elected  emperor  in  place  of 
Charles  VII.,  who  had  died  in  misery  (1745).  Thus  the 
affairs  of  Germany  were  gradually  brought  back  into  the 
accustomed  rut.  The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  had 
come  to  an  end,  and,  against  everybody's  prediction,  the 
empress's  splendid  qualities  had  maintained  the  Austrian 
dominions  intact,  with  the  exception  of  certain  slight  ces- 
sions in  Italy  and  the  one  substantial  sacrifice  of  Silesia. 

When  Frederick  retired  from  the  Second  Silesian  War,  Prussia  a  great 
the  position  of  Prussia  had  been  revolutionized.  The  P°^^^' 
king  had  received  from  his  father  a  promising  state,  but  it 
was  of  no  great  size,  and  it  enjoyed  no  authority  in  Europe. 
Frederick,  by  adding  Silesia  to  it,  gave  it  for  the  first  time 
a  respectable  area ;  but  that  acquisition  alone  would  not 
have  raised  Prussia  to  the  level  of  Austria,  France,  England, 
or  Russia.  It  was  the  genius  displayed  by  the  young  king, 
who  stood  at  the  head  of  Prussia,  which  fell  so  heavily  into 
the  balance,  that  Prussia  was  henceforth  counted  among  the 
great  powers  of  Europe. 

Frederick,  having  thus  won  his  military  laurels,  settled   Frederick's 
down  to  the  much  harder  work  of  governing  with  wisdom 
and  elevating  his  people  materially  and  mentally.     The  ten 
years  of  peace  which  followed  the  Second  Silesian  War  are 
crowded  with  vigorous  internal  labors.     He  drained  the 


242 


Modern  Europe 


Frederick,  the 
philosopher. 


Voltaire. 


Maria  Theresa 
nurses  plans  of 
revenge. 


great  swamps  along  the  Oder,  and  colonized  the  land  thus 
won,  in  one  case  with  2,000,  in  another  with  1,200  families. 
He  promoted  the  internal  traffic  by  new  canals,  and  estab- 
lished new  iron,  wool,  and  salt  industries.  Finally,  he 
planned  for  the  whole  of  his  dominions  a  new  and  uniform 
code  of  laws,  and  prescribed  a  rapid  and  simple  adminis- 
tration of  justice. 

All  of  Frederick's  various  labors  never  destroyed  in  him 
the  light,  humanistic  vein  which  marks  him  from  his  birth. 
He  engaged  in  literature  with  as  much  fervor  as  if  it  were 
his  life-work,  and  took  constant  delight  in  composing 
music  and  in  playing  the  flute.  What  pleased  him  most, 
however,  was  a  circle  of  spirited  friends.  He  was  espe- 
cially well- inclined  to  Frenchmen,  because  that  nation 
represented,  to  his  mind,  the  highest  culture  of  the  Europe 
of  his  day.  A  larger  or  a  smaller  circle  of  Frenchmen  was 
about  him  all  his  life  to  comment  and  to  laugh,  and  for 
a  number  of  years  (1750-53)  he  even  entertained  at  his 
court  the  prince  of  the  eighteenth  century  philosophers, 
Voltaire.  But  after  a  period  of  sentimental  attachment, 
the  king  and  the  philosopher  quarrelled,  and  Voltaire  van- 
ished from  Berlin  in  a  cloud  of  scapdal.  In  any  case,  the 
momentary  conjunction  of  the  two  bright  particular  stars 
of  the  eighteenth  century — the  one  its  greatest  master  in 
the  field  of  action,  the  other  its  greatest  master  of  thought 
and  expression — has.  an  historical  interest. 

All  this  while  Frederick  was  aware  that  Maria  Theresa 
was  not  his  friend.  A  high-spirited  woman  such  as  the 
empress  was  not  likely  to  forget  the  deceit  of  which  she 
had  been  made  the  victim.  She  hoped  to  get  back  Silesia, 
and  for  years  carefully  laid  her  plans.  As  early  as  1746 
she  entered  upon  a  close  alliance  with  Russia.  Next,  her 
minister  Kaunitz  planned  the  bold  step  of  an  alliance  with 
France.     In  the  eighteenth  century  an   alliance  between 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  243 

Hapsburg  and  Bourbon,  the  century-old  enemies,  seemed 
ridiculous.  The  rule  in  Austria  had  been  the  alliance  with 
England,  and  any  other  arrangement  seemed  to  be  con- 
trary to  the  law  of  nature  itself.  Kaunitz,  however,  ac-  The  diplo- 
complished  the  miracle  of  a  diplomatic  revolution,  which  tion  of  1756. " 
during  the  next  years  turned  Europe  topsy-turvy.  His  plans 
were  greatly  aided  by  the  following  circumstance  :  Eng- 
land and  France  were  making  ready,  in  the  middle  of  the 
century,  to  contest  the  empire  of  the  sea.^  Both  were  look- 
ing for  continental  allies,  and  as  Prussia,  after  holding 
back  a  long  time,  was  induced  at  last  to  sign  a  convention 
with  England,  France  was  naturally  pushed  into  the  arms  of 
Prussia's  rival,  Austria.  In  the  spring  of  1756  this  diplo- 
matic revolution  was  an  accomplished  fact.  The  two  great 
political  questions  of  the  day,  the  rivalry  between  England 
and  France,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Prussia  and  Austria, 
on  the  other,  were  about  to  be  fought  out  in  the  great 
Seven  Years'  War  (1756-63),  and  the  two  northern  and 
Protestant  powers  of  England  and  Prussia  were  to  consoli- 
date therein  their  claims  and  interests  against  the  claims 
and  interests  of  the  Catholic  powers,  France  and  Austria. 

Even  before  the  formal  declaration  of  war  (May,  1756)  Military  plans 
the  grand  struggle  between  France  and  England  for  the 
supremacy  over  the  colonial  world  had  broken  out  in  Amer- 
ica, India,  and  on  all  the  seas.  For  the  immediate  future 
England  was  engaged  with  all  her  forces  in  meeting  France 
at  these  various  points.  The  result  was  that  Prussia  had  to 
meet  single-handed  one  of  the  most  formidable  combina- 
tions of  history.  Coolly  reviewing  the  situation  of  1756, 
one  may  fairly  say  that  the  Austrian  diplomacy  was  justified 
in  the  belief  that  the  hated  rival  of  Austria  was  as  good  as 
annihilated.     The  union  with  France  was  the  basis  of  the 


>  See  the  next  chapter. 


244 


Modern  Europe 


"fhe  Seven 
Years'  War 
begins,  1756. 


The  famous 
campaign  of 
1757- 


confidence  of  Maria  Theresa  and  Kaunitz,  but  there  were 
also,  signed  or  being  signed,  and  hardly  less  important,  a 
whole  series  of  alliances  with  Russia,  Sweden,  and  Saxony. 
The  plan  of  the  Austrian  cabinet  was  that  the  Austrians 
should  march  upon  Frederick  from  the  south,  the  French 
from  the  west,  the  Russians  from  the  east,  the  Swedes  from 
the  north,  and  so  shut  in  and  choke  to  death  the  new 
power  of  which  they  were  all  jealous. 

Frederick's  one  chance  in  this  tremendous  crisis  was  to 
move  quickly.  Before  the  allies  had  declared  against  him, 
he  therefore,  by  a  lightning  stroke,  occupied  Saxony,  and 
invaded  Bohemia  (autumn,  1756).  The  next  year  his 
enemies,  whose  number  had  meanwhile,  at  the  instigation 
of  Francis  I.,  the  husband  of  Maria  Theresa,  been  increased 
by  the  accession  of  the  states  of  the  Empire,  marched  upon 
him  from  all  points  of  the  compass.  Again  he  planned  to 
meet  them  separately  before  they  had  united.  He  hurried 
into  Bohemia,  and  was  on  the  point  of  taking  the  capital, 
Prague,  when  the  defeat  of  a  part  of  his  army  at  Kolin 
(June  1 8th),  forced  him  to  retreat  to  Saxony.  Slowly  the 
Austrians  followed  and  poured  into  the  coveted  Silesia. 
The  Russians  had  already  arrived  in  East  Prussia,  the  Swedes 
were  in  Pomerania,  and  the  French,  together  with  the  Im- 
perialists— as  the  troops  of  the  Empire  were  called — were 
marching  upon  Berlin.  The  friends  and  family  of  Frederick 
were  ready  to  declare  that  all  was  lost.  He  alone  kept  up 
heart,  and  by  his  courage  and  intelligence  freed  himself 
from  all  immediate  danger  by  a  succession  of  surprising 
victories.  At  Rossbach,  in  Thuringia,  he  fell,  November 
5)  1757?  with  25,000  men,  upon  the  combined  French 
and  Imperialists  of  twice  that  number,  and  scattered  them 
to  the  winds.  Then  he  turned  like  a  flash  from  the  west  to 
the  east.  During  his  absence  in  Thuringia  the  Austrians 
had  completed  the  conquest  of  Silesia,  and  were  already 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  245 

proclaiming  to  the  world  that  they  had  come  again  into 
their  own.  Just  a  month  after  Rossbach,  at  Leuthen,  near 
Breslau,  he  signally  defeated,  with  34,000  men,  more  than 
twice  as  many  Austrians,  and  drove  them  pell  mell  over  the 
passes  of  the  Giant  Mountains  back  into  their  own  domin- 
ions. Fear  and  incapacity  had  already  arrested  the  Swedes 
and  Russians.  Before  the  winter  came,  both  had  slipped 
away,  and  at  Christmas,  1757,  Frederick  could  call  him- 
self lord  of  an  undiminished  kingdom. 

In  no  succeeding  campaign  was  Frederick  threatened  by  The  situation 
such  overwhelming  forces  as  in  1757.  By  the  next  year  ^^^^"^P' 
England  had  fitted  out  an  army  which,  under  Ferdinand  of 
Brunswick,  operated  against  the  French  upon  the  Rhine, 
and  so  protected  Frederick  from  that  side.  As  the  Swedish 
attack  degenerated  at  the  same  time  into  a  mere  farce,  Fred- 
erick was  allowed  to  neglect  his  Scandinavian  enemy,  and 
give  all  his  attention  to  Austria  and  Russia.     No  doubt  even   Prussia 

,  ,  ,  .         T^         .  T^         •  against  Aus- 

so,  the  odds  agamst  Prussia  were  enoruious.     Prussia  was  a  triaand 
poor,  barren  country  of  barely  5,000,000  inhabitants,  and  in    ^"s^^^- 
men  and  resources,  Austria  and  Russia  together  outstripped 
her  at  least  ten  times;  but  at  the  head  of  Prussia  stood  a  mil- 
itary genius,  with  a  spirit  that  neither  bent  nor  broke,  and 
that  fact  sufficed  for  awhile  to  establish  an  equilibrium. 

It  was  Frederick's  policy  during  the  next  years  to  meet  Frederick 
tlie  Austrians  and  Russians  separately,  in  order  to  keep 
t'lem  from  rolling  down  upon  him  with  combined  forces. 
In  1758,  he  succeeded  in  beating  the  Russians  at  Zorndorf 
and  driving  them  back,  but  in  1759  they  beat  him  in  the 
disastrous  battle  of  Kunersdorf.  For  a  moment  now  it 
looked  as  if  he  were  lost,  but  he  somehow  raised  another 
troop  about  him,  and  the  end  of  the  campaign  found  him 
not  much  worse  off  than  the  beginning.  However,  he 
was  evidently  getting  weak ;  the  terrible  strain  continued 
through  years  was  beginning  to  tell ;  and  when    George 


246 


Modern  Europe 


England 
deserts  him. 


Peace  with 
Russia,  1762. 


Peace  with 
Austria,  1763. 


The  second 
period  of 
peace, 1763- 
86. 


III.,  the  new  English  monarch,  refused  (1761)  to  pay  the 
annual  subsidy,  by  which  Frederick  was  enabled  to  keep 
his  army  on  foot,  the  proud  king  himself  could  hardly  keep 
up  his  hopes. 

At  this  crisis  Frederick  was  saved  by  the  intervention  of 
fortune.  Frederick's  implacable  enemy,  the  Czarina  Eliz- 
abeth, died  January  5,  1762.  Her  successor,  Peter  III., 
who  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  Prussian  king,  not  only 
straightway  detached  his  troops  from  the  Austrians,  and 
signed  a  peace,  but  went  so  far  as  to  propose  a  treaty  of 
alliance  with  the  late  enemy  of  Russia.  Peter  III.  was  soon 
overthrown  (July,  1762),  but  although  his  successor,  Cath- 
arine II.,  cancelled  the  Prussian  alliance,  she  allowed  the 
peace  to  stand.  This  same  year  England  and  France 
came  to  an  understanding  (Preliminaries  of  Fontainebleau, 
1762)  and  hostilities  between  them  were  at  once  suspended 
on  all  the  seas.  So  there  remained  under  arms  only  Aus- 
tria and  Prussia,  and  as  Austria  could  not  hope  to  do 
unaided  what  she  had  failed  to  do  with  half  of  Europe  at 
her  side,  Maria  Theresa,  although  with  heavy  heart,  resolved 
to  come  to  terms.  In  the  Peace  of  Hubertsburg  (February, 
1763),  the  cession  of  Silesia  to  Frederick  was  made  final. 

Counting  from  the  Peace  of  Hubertsburg  Frederick  had 
still  twenty-three  years  before  him.  They  were  years  de- 
voted to  the  works  of  peace.  And  all  his  energy  and  ad- 
ministrative ability  were  required  to  bring  his  exhausted 
country  back  to  vigor.  We  now  hear  again,  as  during  the 
first  period  of  peace  (1745-56),  of  extensive  reforms,  of 
the  formation  of  provincial  banks,  the  draining  of  bogs, 
the  cutting  of  canals,  and  the  encouragement  of  industries ; 
in  a  word,  we  hear  of  Frederick  doing  everything  that 
an  energetic  ruler  has  ever  been  known  to  do. 

Only  two  political  events  of  this  period  of  Frederick's 
life  claim  our  attention.     In  1772  the  troubles  in  Poland 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  247 


led  to  the  First  Partition  of  that  unhappy  country  among 
Russia,  Austria,  and  Prussia.     Frederick  received,  as  his   The  acquisi- 
share,  the  province  of  West  Prussia,  estabhshing,  at  last,    Prussia, 
by  means  of  it  the  necessary  continuity  between  his  cen- 
tral   and   his    eastern    provinces.     In    1778,   another    war 
threatened  to  break  out  with  Austria.     Joseph  II.  (1765-   Danger  of  an- 
90),  the  gifted  and  fiery  son  of  Maria  Theresa,^  now  influ-   Austria,  177b. 
enced   affairs  in   that  country   and   anxious   to  use  every 
opportunity  to  extend  his  power,  was  planning  to  absorb 
Bavaria.     This  Frederick  was  bound,  if  necessary,  to  resist 
by  arms,  and  therefore  took  the  field.     The  quarrel  was, 
however,  adjudicated  before  a  battle  had  been  fought,  and 
the  so-called  War  of  the  Bavarian  Succession  came  to  an 
end  in  1779  by  Joseph's  sacrificing  his  ambition.    In  1786 
Frederick  died  at  his  favorite  residence.  Sans  Souci,  after  a 
reign  of  forty -six  years  (i  740-86). 

The  great  result  of  Frederick's  reign,  from  the  European  The  rivalry  of 
point  of  view,  is,  that  he  called  into  life  a  new  power.  Prussia. 
From  the  German  point  of  view,  the  most  significant  fact 
in  connection  with  his  life  is,  that  he  created  the  dualism 
between  Austria  and  Prussia,  and  that  from  his  time  on 
the  ancient  Catholic  power,  Austria,  the  traditional  head 
of  the  confederation,  was  engaged  in  fierce  rivalry  with  up- 
start Protestant  Prussia  for  the  control  of  Germany.  In 
fact  the  mutual  jealousy  of  these  two  states  is  the  central 
theme  of  German  history  for  the  next  one  hundred  years. 
It  is  only  within  the  memory  of  living  men  (1866)  that 
this  chapter  has  been  definitely  closed  by  the  final  victory 
of  Prussia  and  by  the  exclusion  of  Austria  from  Germany. 
In  that  famous  settlement,  introductory  to  the  unification 
of  Germany  (1871),  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  that 
Frederick  had  a  hand. 


1  Maria  Theresa  did  not  die  till  1780.  She  held  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment till  her  death,  but  naturally  her  son  Joseph,  who  succeeded  liis 
father  Francis  I.  as  emperor  in  1765,  largely  influenced  her  councils. 


CHAPTER   V 


ENGLAND    AND    FRANCE    IN    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 


The  result  of 
the  "  Glorious 
Revolution." 


William  in- 
troduces a 
new  foreign 
policy. 


Rivalry  of 
France  and 
England. 


The  *'  Glorious  Revolution  "  of  1688  ended  the  period 
of  the  civil  wars  in  England.  It  had  established  the  Prot- 
estant sovereigns,  William  and  Mary,  upon  the  throne  ;  it 
had,  by  the  Bill  of  Rights,  defined  the  respective  spheres  of 
king  and  Parliament,  thus  rendering  future  attempts  on  the 
part  of  the  monarch  to  make  himself  absolute,  impossible ; 
and  it  had  paved  the  way  to  an  understanding  between 
the  Established  Church  and  the  Dissenters  by  the  Toleration 
Act.  Thus  the  English  monarchy  had  at  last  been  set  upon 
the  path  of  genuine  constitutionalism. 

For  the  first  few  years  of  his  reign,  William  had  to  se- 
cure his  throne  by  fighting.  James  II.  had  sought  refuge 
with  Louis  XIV.,  and  the  decision  of  the  French  king  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  James  naturally  threw  England  on  the 
side  of  the  allies,  consisting  of  the  emperor,  the  Dutch,  and 
Spain,  with  whom  Louis  had  just  engaged  in  the  war  known 
as  the  War  of  the  Palatinate  (1688-97).  This  was  the  first 
time  that  England  had  reached  out  a  hand  to  the  powers  of 
the  Continent  to  help  them  against  the  continued  aggres- 
sions of  Louis  XIV.  Her  national  interests  had  long  ago 
demanded  that  she  associate  herself  with  the  enemies  of 
France,  but  it  was  one  of  the  penalties  she  paid  for  putting 
up  with  Stuart  rule,  that  she  was  not  governed  for  her 
own,  but  for  dynastic  ends.  It  is  the  great  merit  of  Will- 
iam to  have  amalgamated  the  interests  of  the  nation  and 
the  interests  of  the  monarchy,  and  to  have  given  a  direction 

248 


E7igland  and  France  in  the  Eighteenth  Century     249 

to  English  affairs  which  was  steadily  maintained  during 
the  next  century,  and  ended  not  only  with  checking  the 
ambition  of  France  on  the  Continent,  but  also  in  wresting 
from  her  her  best  colonies,  and  the  undisputed  supremacy 
of  the  seas. 

The  War  of  the  Palatinate  has  been  dealt  with  elsewhere  William  con- 

•  1    T       •    ^rT^r  1  r  '      ^  qucfs  Ireland, 

m  connection  with  Louis  XIV. ;  one  chapter  of  it,  however, 

the  insurrection  of  Ireland,  must  be  embodied  in  the  history 
of  WiUiam's  reign.  In  March,  1689,  James  II.  landed  in 
Ireland,  and  immediately  the  Irish,  who  were  enthusiastic 
Catholics,  gathered  around  him.  To  them  James  II.  was 
the  legitimate  king,  while  to  the  English  and  Scotch  set- 
tlers of  Ireland,  who  sympathized  with  Protestant  William, 
he  was  no  better  than  a  usurper.  Again  the  terrible  race- 
hatred of  Celt  and  Saxon  flamed  up  in  war.  The  Protes- 
tants were  driven  from  their  homes,  and  for  a  time  it  looked 
as  if  the  island  would  fall  back  to  its  original  owners. 
However,  on  July  i,  1690,  William  defeated  James  II.  at  Battle  of  the 
the  battle  of  the  Boyne.  James,  who  was  a  poor  soldier,  °^"^'  ^  ^' 
thereupon  hurried  back  to  France,  shamefully  abandoning 
to  the  English  mercies  the  people  who  had  risen  for  his 
crown.  The  measures  now  taken  by  William  and  his  suc- 
cessors against  the  Irish  broke  their  resistance  to  English 
rule  for  a  hundred  years. 

It  will  be  well,  before  we  speak  of  these  measures,  to  re-  The  relation 
view  the  relations  of  England  and  Ireland  during  the  whole  and  inland, 
seventeenth  century.  When  James  I.  mounted  the  throne, 
Ireland  had  been  a  dependency  of  the  English  crown  for 
many  centuries — but  hardly  more  than  a  nominal  one,  for 
the  English  rule  and  law  extended  over  no  more  than  a  few 
districts  of  the  eastern  coast,  known  as  the  English  pale. 
The  heart  of  the  island  was  held  by  the  native  tribes,  who, 
governed  by  their  chiefs,  in  accordance  with  their  own 
Brehon  laws,  were,  year  in  year  out,  as  good  as  indepen- 


250 


Modern  Europe 


The  policy 
of  confisca- 
tion under 
Cromwell 
and  William. 


dent.  Now  in  the  last  years  of  Elizabeth,  there  had  taken 
place  the  great  rising  of  O'Neill,  the  chief  of  an  Ulster  tribe, 
and  when  it  was  finally  smothered  under  James,  James  found 
himself  master  of  all  Ireland.  He  was  the  first  English  mon- 
arch who  could  boast  of  this  distinction,  and  he  immediately 
celebrated  his  triumph  by  ruthlessly  confiscating  six  coun- 
ties in  the  province  of  Ulster,  and  handing  them  over  to 
English  and  Scotch  colonists  (1610).  The  Irish  were  sim- 
ply crowded  out,  with  no  more  said  than  that  they  must 
seek  subsistence  elsewhere.  The  act  of  16 10  created  an 
implacable  hatred  between  oppressors  and  oppressed. 

In  the  year  1641,  when  the  troubles  between  king  and 
Parliament  temporarily  annihilated  the  power  of  England, 
the  Irish  fell  upon  the  colonists  of  Ulster,  and  murdered 
them  or  drove  them  from  their  homes.  The  English  re- 
venge for  this  outrage  had  of  course  to  be  delayed  until  the 
execution  of  the  king  and  the  victory  of  the  Parliament  had 
re-established  the  authority  of  the  nation.  At  length,  in 
1649,  Cromwell  undertook  to  reconquer  Ireland.  He  was 
successful,  but,  as  he  himself  confessed,  imbued  his  hands 
with  blood  like  a  common  butcher.  To  understand  the 
massacres  indulged  in  by  the  Puritan  soldiery,  it  is  necessary 
to  remember,  that,  to  a  Puritan,  an  Irishman  was  not  only  a 
national  enemy  but  also  a  Papist — that  is,  an  enemy  of  the 
true  faith.  As  such,  all  Irishmen  were  simply  regarded  as 
standing  outside  of  the  law  of  humanity.  Without  any 
consideration  of  the  results,  therefore,  three  of  the  four 
provinces  of  Ireland,  Ulster,  Leinster,  and  Munster,  were 
now  confiscated  for  the  benefit  of  the  English.  The  Irish 
were  bidden  to  go  find  bread,  or  else  a  grave,  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Connaught.  When  William  III.  overthrew  the 
next  insurrection  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  (1690),  the 
policy  of  confiscation  was  applied  to  most  of  Connaught 
too.     Therewith  the  Irish  had  become  a  landless  people  in 


England  and  France  in  the  Eighteenth  Century     2^1 

their  own  land.  As  if  that  were  not  misery  enough,  the 
EngHsh  Parhament,  by  its  legislation  under  William  and 
his  immediate  successors,  deprived  the  island  of  its  com- 
merce and  its  industry  as  well,  by  forbidding  it  to  carry 
on  trade  with  other  countries.  Thus,  by  a  merciless  appli- 
cation of  the  rights  of  conquest,  the  Irish  were  gradually 
reduced  to  becoming  tenants,  day-laborers,  and  beggars, 
and  tenants,  day-laborers,  and  beggars  they  have  remained 
to  this  day. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  William's  great  merit  as  William  labors 
sovereign  of  England  was  that  he  enabled  her  to  follow  her  France, 
natural  inclination  and  range  herself  with  the  enemies  of 
Louis  XIV.  He  gave  all  his  life  as  English  sovereign  to 
creating  a  system  of  balance  to  the  power  of  France.  This 
system  he  discovered  in  the  alliance  of  England,  the  em- 
peror, and  the  Dutch,  and  it  was  this  alliance  which  waged 
the  War  of  the  Palatinate  (1689-97),  with  the  result  that 
Louis  XIV.  drew  off,  at  the  Peace  of  Ryswick,  without  a 
gain.  William  spent  the  next  years  in  negotiating  with 
Louis  an  equitable  division  of  the  expected  Spanish  heri- 
tage; but  when,  in  the  year  1700,  the  king  of  Spain, 
Charles  II.,  died,  Louis  XIV.  cut  short  the  argument,  by 
sending  his  grandson,  Philip,  to  Madrid  to  assume  the  rule 
of  the  undivided  Spanish  dominions.  Out  of  this  wan- 
ton act  grew  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  for 
which  William  had  hardly  prepared,  by  a  renewal  of  his 
continental  alliances,  when  he  died  (1702).  His  wife, 
Mary,  having  died  some  years  before  (1694),  without  is- 
sue, the  crown  now  passed,  by  virtue  of  the  Act  of  Set- 
tlement (1701),  to  Mary's  sister  Anne.  The  Act  of  The  Act  of 
Settlement  further  provided,  with  regard  to  the  succes-  1701.  ' 
sion,  that,  in  case  of  Anne's  death  without  heirs,  the 
crown  was  to  pass  to  the  Electress  Sophia  of  Hanover 
and  her  descendants,  the  principle  which  determined  the 


252 


Modern  Europe 


Growth  of 
Parliament ; 
decline  of    - 
king. 


Freedom  of 
the  press. 


Annual  vote 
of  supplies. 


The  War  of 
the  Spanish 
Succession. 


selection  of  Sophia  being  that  she  was  the  nearest  Prot- 
estant heir.^ 

WilHam's  reign  is  constitutionally  very  interesting.  Al- 
though the  Parliament,  as  we  have  seen,  had  won  in  the 
long  struggle  with  the  king,  it  was  not  inclined,  for  that 
reason,  to  rest  upon  its  laurels.  It  now  proceeded  to  reap 
gradually  the  harvest  of  its  victory.  From  William's  time 
on  we  have,  therefore,  to  notice  a  continual  enlargement  of 
the  sphere  of  the  Parliament,  accompanied  by  a  proportion- 
ate restriction  of  the  sphere  of  the  king,  until  we  arrive  at 
the  condition  which  obtains  in  this  century,  when  the  sov- 
ereign of  England  is  hardly  more  than  a  sovereign  in  name. 

A  number  of  acts,  passed  under  William,  prepared  this 
development.  We  notice  of  them  only  the  more  important. 
First  to  consider  is  the  removal  of  all  restrictions  weighing 
on  the  freedom  of  the  press  (1695)  ;  henceforth  there  ob- 
tained in  England  that  state  of  free  opinion  which  is  the 
necessary  concomitant  of  free  government.  Secondly,  we 
note  that  WilHam's  Parliaments  fell  into  the  habit  of  making 
their  money-grants  for  one  year  only — which  custom  had 
the  consequence  of  necessitating  annual  Parliaments,  since 
the  king's  officers  were  not  qualified  to  collect  a  revenue 
that  had  not  first  been  regularly  voted.  From  William's 
time  on,  therefore,  the  king's  old  trick  of  getting  rid  of 
Parliament  by  indefinite  adjournment,  had  to  be  aban- 
doned. 

The  event  of  the  reign  of  Anne  (1702-14),  overshad- 
owing all  others,  was  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession. 
It  has  been  treated  elsewhere.  England  won  therein  a 
leading  position  among  the  powers  of  Europe.  But  Marl- 
borough's march  of  victory  from  Blenheim  to  Malplaquet 
did  not  excite  universal  approval  in  England.     The  Tories, 


See  genealogical  chart. 


England  and  France  in  the  Eighteenth  Century     253 

who  were  recruited  largely  from  the  gentry,  had  never 
looked  upon  the  war  with  favor.  As  the  taxes  grew  heavier 
and  the  national  debt  became  more  burdensome,  an  increas- 
ing part  of  the  population  rallied  to  the  opposition.  It  was 
with  the  aid  of  the  Whigs,  who  were  in  control  of  the  min- 
istry, and  of  the  duchess  of  Marlborough,  who  controlled  the 
easy-going,  good-natured  queen,  that  the  duke  was  enabled 
to  carry  on  his  campaigns  in  the  Netherlands  and  Ger- 
many. However,  the  duchess,  being  a  high-strung  and  ar- 
rogant lady  and  not  always  capable  of  holding  her  tongue, 
gradually  fell  out  of  favor,  and  in  17 10  the  queen,  having 
become  disgusted  with  the  whole  Whig  connection,  abruptly, 
dismissed  the  Whigs  from  office.  There  followed  a  ministry 
of  Tories,  with  a  policy  of  peace  at  any  price,  and  the  re- 
sult was  that  Marlborough  was  disgraced,  and  that  Eng- 
land signed  with  France,  in  17 13,  the  Peace  of  Utrecht. 
Although  the  peace  involved  a  breach  of  faith  toward  the 
allies,  and  although  the  negotiators  did  not  get  all  they 
might  have  had,  some  of  the  results  of  the  war  could  not 
be  sacrificed.  England  acquired  from  France,  Newfound- 
land, Nova  Scotia,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  territory ;  from 
Spain,  Gibraltar  and  Minorca ;  but,  best  of  all,  she  could 
now  count  herself  without  a  rival  upon  the  sea. 

An  event  of  Anne's  reign,  which,  although  not  much  Union  with 
noticed,  was  hardly  less  important  than  the  War  of  the  17^.^°  ' 
Spanish  Succession,  was  the  union  with  Scotland.  Since 
the  accession  of  James  I.,  Scotland  and  England  had  had 
the  same  sovereigns,  but,  for  the  rest,  had  remained  jeal- 
ously independent  of  each  other  under  separate  Parliaments 
and  separate  laws.  In  1707  the  century-old  suspicion  be- 
tween the  two  nations  was  forgotten  long  enough  for  an 
agreement  to  be  arrived  at,  by  which  the  two  Parliaments 
were  merged  in  one.  Scotland  henceforth  sent  her  repre- 
sentatives to  the  House  of  Lords  and  House  of  Commons 


254 


Modern  Europe 


Accession  of 
the  House  of 
Hanover. 


Rule  of  the 
Whig  aris- 
tocracy. 


Development 
of  cabinet 
government. 


at  Westminster,  and  the  two  nations  accepted  the  same  lot 
in  good  and  evil  fortune. 

In  the  year  17 14,  Anne  died,  and  the  crown  fell  to  the 
House  of  Hanover.  The  Electress  Sophia,  who  had  been 
designated  by  the  Act  of  Settlement  as  the  eventual  heir, 
having  preceded  Anne  in  death,  her  son,  George  I.,  now 
ascended  the  throne.  Some  great  stroke  on  the  part  of  the 
Pretender,  the  son  of  James  II.,  was  expected,  but  when  it 
fell  (17 1 5),  it  turned  out  to  be  harmless.  The  man  who 
claimed  to  be  James  III.  had  hardly  landed  when  his 
courage  failed  him,  and  he  turned  back  to  France. 

George  I.  (1714-27),  immediately  dismissed  from  office 
the  Tories,  who  were  known  to  be  favorable  to  the  Stuarts, 
and  chose  his  advisers  from  among  the  Whigs.  He  clung 
to  the  Whigs  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  and  so  introduced  that 
government  of  the  Whig  aristocracy,  which  is  one  of  the 
leading  features  of  the  constitutional  history  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century. 

This  prolonged  power  of  a  single  party  helped  Parlia- 
ment in  taking  another  step  toward  acquiring  complete  con- 
trol of  the  state;  with  George  I.  is  associated  the  begin- 
ning of  cabinet  government.  We  have  already  seen  that, 
as  far  back  as  Charles  II.  the  Parliament  was  divided  into 
Whigs  and  Tories.  As  things  stood  then,  though  the  ma- 
jority of  the  Commons  were  Tory,  the  king  could  continue 
to  choose  his  ministry  from  the  Whigs.  Sooner  or  later  it 
was  bound  to  appear  that  such  a  division  was  harmful,  and 
that  to  attain  the  best  results  the  ministry  would  have  to  be 
in  accord  with  the  majority  of  the  Commons.  The  reform 
meant  a  new  loss  of  influence  by  the  king,  but  under  George 
I.  the  development  was  duly  effected.  Henceforth  the 
ministry  was  still  named  by  the  king,  but,  as  no  set  of  men, 
who  had  not  first  assured  themselves  that  they  were  sup- 
ported by  a  majority  in  the  Commons,  would  accept  the 


England  and  France  in  the  Eighteenth  Century     255 

appointment,  the  Parliament  practically  dictated  the  king's 
cabinet.  With  the  annual  vote  of  supplies,  and  with  cabinet 
and  party  rule  established  as  practices  of  the  English  Gov- 
ernment, the  constitution  may  be  said  to  have  reached  the 
character  which  distinguishes  it  to-day. 

George's  reign  was  a  reign  of  peace.  It  furnished  just  Waipoie's  rule 
the  opportunity  which  the  Whigs  wanted  to  develop  the  sense™'""" 
prosperity  of  the  great  middle  class,  upon  which  they  de- 
pended against  the  combination  of  Tory  squire  and  Tory 
clergyman.  The  leading  man  among  the  Whigs,  and 
author  of  their  policy,  was  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  One  may 
sum  up  his  ideas  by  saying  that  he  wished  to  settle  Eng- 
land under  the  Hanoverian  dynasty,  and  give  free  play  to 
the  commercial  and  industrial  energy  of  his  countrymen. 
The  period  which  he  directed  is  therefore  well  entitled  the 
era  of  common  sense.  To  carry  out  his  programme,  Wal- 
pole needed  a  steady  majority  in  the  Commons.  He  got  it 
in  part,  at  least,  by  corrupting  members.  ''  Every  man  has 
his  price,''  was  his  cynical  estimate  of  his  countrymen. 
But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  more  than  to  corruption^ 
he  owed  his  long  lease  of  power  to  the  popularity  which  he 
acquired  by  keeping  his  policy  in  touch  with  the  wishes  of 
the  people. 

It  was  only  when  Walpole  deliberately  set  himself  against  War  with 
the  people  that  he  lost  his  hold.  George  I.  had  meanwhile  ^^^^'  ' 
been  succeeded  by  George  II.  (1727-60).  The  new  king 
was,  like  his  father,  without  intelligence,  but  was  possessed, 
like  him,  with  a  certain  honesty  and  solidity.  Under  the 
direction  of  Walpole,  he  continued  the  peace  policy  of 
George  I.,  until  a  succession  of  events  plunged  Europe 
again  into  war.  In  the  year  1738,  a  storm  of  indignation 
swept  over  the  English  people  at  the  restrictions  which  Spain 
had  for  ages  been  putting  upon  English  trade  with  the 
Spanish  colonies.     Walpole,  against  his  will,  was  forced  to 


256  Modern  Europe 


declare  war  (1739).  The  next  year  the  continental  powers 
became  involved  among  themselves,  owing  to  the  death  of 
Emperor  Charles  VI.  (1740)  and  the  dispute  about  the 
Austrian  succession.  England,  through  her  kings,  who 
were  also  electors  of  Hanover,  had  an  immediate  interest 
in  the  Continent  at  this  time.  In  fact,  the  connection  of 
England  and  Hanover  is  of  great  consequence  all  through 
the  eighteenth  century.  As  England  and  Hanover  offered 
England's  war  help  to  Austria,  when  Maria  Theresa  saw  herself  attacked 
gen?rai  war.  ^  ^7  ^^^^  greedy  and  unscrupulous  neighbors ;  and  as  Spain 
was  allied  with  France,  it  became  inevitable  that  the  two 
wars,  that  of  England  and  Spain,  and  that  of  Austria  and 
France,  should,  though  they  had  a  distinct  origin,  be 
merged  into  one.  There  followed  the  general  conflict, 
known  as  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  (i  740-48). ^ 
As  Walpole  was  unsuited  for  an  enterprise  of  this  nature, 
and  as,  moreover,  he  stood  personally  for  peace,  his  ma- 
jority melted  away,  and,  in  1742,  he  resigned.  He  had 
directed  the  destinies  of  England  for  twenty-one  years 
(1721-42). 
The  War  of  The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  as  far  as  England 

Succession  took  a  hand  in  it,  was  principally  waged  in  the  Austrian 
iish"pSnt??^'  Netherlands,  which  France  had  invaded,  and  upon  the 
view.  seas,. and  in  the  colonies.     On  the  seas  the  English  main- 

tained their  old  mastery,  but  in  the  Netherlands  they  and 
the  Austrians  lost  ground,  owing  chiefly  to  the  superior 
ability  displayed  by  the  French  commander.  Marshal  Saxe. 
In  1745,  the  marshal  won  the  great  battle  of  Fontenoy, 
and  overran  all  the  Austrian  Netherlands ;  but  when  peace 
was  signed  in  1748,  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  powers  one 
and  all  restored  their  conquests,  an  exception  being  made 
only  in  favor  of  Frederick  of  Prussia,  who  was  allowed  to 
retain  Silesia. 

»  See  page  239. 


England  and  France  in  the  EigJiteenth  Century     257 

A  memorable  incident  of  this  war  was  the  attempt  of  The  invasion 
Charles  Edward,  son  of  the  Pretender,  and  known  as  the  Pretender,  '^ 
Young  Pretender,  to  win  back  his  kingdom.  The  defeat  ^'^^^' 
of  the  British  at  the  battle  of  Fontenoy  was  his  opportunity. 
In  July,  1745,  he  landed,  with  only  seven  men,  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland.  The  Highlanders  were  at  this  time 
still  divided,  as  in  ancient  times,  into  clans,  at  the  head  of 
which  stood  hereditary  chiefs.  As  Kelts,  they  were  by  no 
means  friendly  to  the  Teutonic  Lowlanders  of  Scotland 
and  to  the  English.  Moreover,  they  were  practically  self- 
governed,  and  were  subjected  to  the  Hanoverian  government 
at  London  in  hardly  anything  more  than  name.  That  Prince 
Charlie,  as  the  Young  Pretender  was  fondly  called,  had 
thrown  himself  upon  their  mercy,  touched  their  hearts  and 
aroused  their  enthusiasm.  The  Highlanders  flocking  to  him 
in  crowds,  he  was  soon  enabled  to  take  Edinburgh.  For  a 
moment  now  the  government  at  London  lost  its  head,  but 
when  the  troops  had  been  hurried  home  from  the  Netherlands, 
it  was  soon  found  that  the  wild  courage  of  feudal  clans  was 
of  no  avail  against  the  discipline  of  a  trained  army.  On  Cul- 
loden  Moor  (April,  1746)  the  Highlanders  were  defeated 
with  fearful  slaughter  by  the  king's  second  son,  the  duke  of 
Cumberland.  Prince  Charlie,  after  many  romantic  advent- 
ures, made  his  escape ;  but  he  lived  ever  afterward  in  indo- 
lence abroad,  and  gave  no  further  trouble  (d.  1788).  His 
failure  marks  the  last  Stuart  attempt  to  recover  the  throne. 

While  England,  under  Walpole,  was  preparing  to  as-  The  Regency 
sume  the  industrial  leadership  of  the  world,  France  was 
doing  little  or  nothing  to  recover  from  the  disasters  of  the 
War  of  the  Spanish  Succession.  When  Louis  XIV.  died, 
in  the  year  17 15,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  great-grandson 
Louis  XV.  (1715-74).  As  Louis  XV.  was  but  five  years 
old  at  the  time,  the  government  during  his  minority  was 
exercised  in  his  name  by  the  nephew  of  Louis  XIV.,  Philip, 


258 


Modern  Europe 


Cardinal 
Fleury. 


France 

acquires 

Lorraine. 


The  War  of 
the  Austrian 
Succession 
from  the 
French  point 
of  view. 


duke  of  Orleans.  The  Regent  Orleans  although  a  man  of 
intelligence,  was  utterly  debauched,  and  unable  to  contrib- 
ute anything  toward  raising  France  from  fhe  miserable  eco- 
nomical and  financial  condition  into  which  the  country  had 
been  plunged  by  Louis  XIV. 

Perhaps  the  one  good  point  about  the  rule  of  the  regent 
was,  that  he  insisted  on  peace.  But  it  was  not  enough  to 
make  him  popular,  and  he  died,  regretted  by  no  one,  in 
the  year  1723.  Shortly  after.  Cardinal  Fleury,  the  con- 
fidant of  the  young  king,  assumed  control  of  affairs  (1726- 
43),  and  though  he  reversed  the  regent's  inner  policy,  and 
improved  the  finances  and  the  administration,  he  clung  to 
Orleans's  policy  of  peace.  When  he  finally  declared  war, 
it  was  only  in  obedience  to  circumstances  which  he  could 
not  control.  In  the  year  1733  France  became  involved 
with  Austria,  because  of  the  different  sides  taken  by  these 
two  powers  in  the  election  of  a  Polish  king.  The  so-called 
War  of  the  Polish  Succession  (1733-35),  which  was  the 
result,  is  wholly  unmemorable,  but  for  the  acquisition  by 
France  of  the  duchy  of  Lorraine.  Lorraine  was  still  tech- 
nically a  member  of  the  Empire,  though  the  hold  of  France 
had  been  steadily  tightening  upon  it  during  the  last  hundred 
years.  Now  it  was  definitely  merged  with  the  western 
kingdom,  thereby  completing  the  long  list  of  conquests 
which  France  had  been  making  from  Germany  since  the 
time  of  Henry  II.  (1552). 

In  the  year  1740,  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Charles  VI. 
and  the  accession  in  Austria  of  the  young  girl  Maria 
Theresa,  so  completely  turned  the  head  of  the  court  party 
at  Versailles,  with  the  brilliant  chance  that  the  situation 
offered  of  war  and  conquest,  that  Cardinal  Fleury  had  again 
to  yield  to  his  environment  and  declare  war.  The  War  of 
the  Austrian  Succession  involved  all  Europe  for  eight  years, 
as  we  have  seen,  but  when  it  was  closed  by  the  Peace  of 


England  and  France  in  the  Eighteenth  Century     259 

Aix-la-Chapelle  (1748),  France  recognized  Maria  Theresa, 
and  withdrew  without  a  gain. 

As  we  approach  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  we  The  rivalry 
notice  that  the  old  struggle  of  France  for  the  supremacy  in  and  England. 
Europe  enters  upon  a  new  stage.  The  remedy  which  Will- 
iam III.  of  England  had  proposed  in  order  to  meet  this 
aspiration,  the  aUiance,  namely,  of  England,  the  Dutch, 
and  Austria,  had  proved  itself  quite  sufficient  for  checking 
French  ambition  on  the  Continent.  It  became  an  acknowl- 
edged fact — the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  had  again 
proved  it — that  the  military  power  of  France  was  in  de- 
cline. The  Continent  could  at  last  forget  its  terror  of  the 
French  name;  the  French  armies  had  been  repeatedly  de- 
feated and  the  French  aggression  on  the  Continent  defi- 
nitely checked.  Moreover,  the  naval  power  of  France  had 
been  destroyed  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  But 
in  spite  of  the  precarious  condition  of  the  country,  French 
colonial  expansion  went  on  all  through  the  reign  of  Louis 
XV.,  and  in  North  America  and  India  was  entering  into 
sharp  rivalry  with  England.  The  question  which  now 
arose  was,  whether  a  nation  whose  land-power  had  been 
checked  and  whose  sea-power  formed  no  threat,  should  be 
allowed  to  find  compensation  for  its  loss  of  influence  by  the 
acquisition  of  a  colonial  empire.  Slowly,  as  the  century 
advanced,  the  gaze  of  Frenchmen  and  of  Englishmen 
turned  across  the  seas,  and  slowly  the  centre  of  interest, 
which  in  the  long  struggle  of  France  for  supremacy  in 
Europe  had  been  the  Continent,  shifted  from  the  Continent 
to  the  colonies. 

Such   change   of  interest   gradually  involved   a   subtle  England  and 
change  of  international  relationships  in  Europe.      In  meas-   ^"Jve  partner- 
ure  as  France 'withdrew  from  her  aggression  against  her  ^^^P- 
continental  neighbors,  she  conciliated  her  enemy  Austria^ 
and  in  measure  as  she  emphasized  her  colonial  ambition, 


26o 


Modern  Europe 


Prussia  sides 
with  England, 
Austria  with 
France. 


The  Seven 
Years'  War, 
1756-63. 


Pitt,  captain 
of  England. 


she  aroused  the  increased  hostility  of  England.  Thus,  by 
the  gradual  operation  of  circumstances,  England  and  France 
had,  toward  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  been 
brought  face  to  face  to  fight  out  the  great  question  of 
supremacy  in  the  colonial  world ;  and  in  this  colonial  ques- 
tion, Austria,  the  old  ally  of  England  against  France,  had 
no  immediate  interest.  Was  Austria  or  any  other  conti- 
nental power  likely,  under  the  circumstances,  to  take  part 
in  the  war? 

The  war  between  France  and  England  which  followed, 
called  the  Seven  Years'  War  (1756-63),  is  properly  the 
most  important  struggle  of  the  century,  for  it  determined 
whether  America  and  India  were  to  be  French  or  English. 
But  though  the  Continent  had  no  immediate  interest  in  the 
colonial  question,  it  nevertheless  participated  in  this  war. 
That  was  owing  to  the  circumstance  that  the  German 
powers,  Austria  and  Prussia,  had  a  quarrel  of  their  own  to 
settle,  and  that  by  choosing  sides  in  the  French-English 
conflict,  Prussia  allying  herself  with  England  and  Austria 
herself  with  France,  they  brought  about  a  fusion  of  two 
distinct  issues. 

France  made  great  sacrifices  in  the  Seven  Years'  War  to 
maintain  her  power.  She  sent  an  army  over  the  Rhine  to 
co-operate  with  the  Austrians  against  the  Prussians  and  the 
English,  and  she  prepared  to  defend  herself  with  might  in 
America  and  on  the  sea.  Unfortunately  she  was  governed 
by  an  ignorant  and  vicious  king,  who  was  too  feeble  to 
persist  in  any  policy,  and  who  was  no  better  than  the 
puppet  of  his  courtiers  and  his  mistresses.  The  real  direc- 
tion of  French  affairs  during  the  war  lay  in  the  hands  of 
Madame  de  Pompadour. 

While  government  was  thus  being  travestted  in  France, 
the  power  in  England  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  capable  and 
fiery  William  Pitt,  known  in  history  as  the  Great  Com- 


England  and  France  in  the  EigJiteenth  Century     261 

moner.  He  now  organized  the  strength  of  England  as  no 
one  had  ever  organized  it  before.  Fleets  and  armies  were 
equipped  and  dispatched  in  accordance  with  a  simple  and 
comprehensive  plan  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  Under  these 
circumstances,  victory  necessarily  fell  to  England.  The  English  vic- 
French  army  in  Germany  was  badly  beaten  by  Frederick 
the  Great  at  Rossbach  (1757),  and  later  held  in  effective 
check  by  the  English  and  Hanoverian  forces  under  Ferdi- 
nand of  Brunswick.  But  the  most  signal  advantages  of  the 
English  were  won  not  in  Europe  but  on  the  sea  and  in  the 
colonies.  First,  the  French  were  driven  from  the  basin  of 
the  Ohio  (1758).^  In  the  next  year  Wolfe's  capture  of 
Quebec  secured  the  course  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  there- 
with completed  the  conquest  of  Canada.  Furthermore,  in 
India,  the  celebrated  Lord  Clive  (victory  of  Plassey,  1757), 
crowded  out  the  French  and  established  the  English  influ- 
ence, while  the  great  maritime  victories  (1759)  of  Lagos 
and  Quiberon  confirmed  England's  ancient  naval  greatness. 

In  the  year  1760,  while  the  war  was  at  its  height,  George  iii., 
George  II.  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson, 
George  HI.  (i 760-1820).  George  HI.  had  one  leading 
idea,  which  was  to  regain  for  himself  the  place  in  the  gov- 
ernment which  had  been  usurped  by  the  Parliament.  So 
completely  was  he  absorbed  by  this  policy,  that  the  war 
had  only  a  secondary  interest  for  him.  He  therefore  dis- 
missed Pitt,  who  was  identified  with  the  war,  from  office 
(1761),  and  shortly  after  ordered  Lord  Bute,  a  minister  of  PeaceofPari? 
his  own  independent  appointment,  to  conclude  peace  with 
France.     Although  the  English  negotiators,  in  their  haste 


'  The  French  had  claimed  the  whole  Mississippi  basin,  and  in  order  to 
shut  out  the  English  had  built  a  fort  on  the  upper  Ohio.  ^  In  1755  Gen- 
eral Braddock  was  sent  out  to  destroy  the  French  fort,  but  refusing  to  be 
guided  by  the  advice  of  the  Virginian  officer,  George  Washington,  was 
badly  beaten.  When  the  French  fort  was  finally  taken,  it  was  re-baptized 
Pittsburg,  in  honor  of  England's  great  minister. 


262 


Modern  Europe 


The  American 

Revolution, 

1776. 


The  Peace  of 

Versailles, 

1783. 


Irish  troubles. 


to  have  done,  occasionally  sacrificed  the  English  interests, 
the  great  results  of  Pitt's  victories  could  not  be  overturned. 
By  the  Peace  of  Paris  (1763)  England  acquired  from 
France,  Canada  and  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  reduced  the  French  in  India  to  a  few  trading 
post?. 

If  the  Seven  Years'  War  is  the  greatest  triumph  of  Eng- 
land in  history,  she  was  visited  soon  afterward  with  her 
severest  disgrace.  In  the  year  1765  the  British  Parliament 
levied  a  tax  upon  the  American  colonies,  called  the  Stamp 
Act.  When  it  became  known  that  the  tax  aroused  discon- 
tent, it  was  wisely  withdrawn,  but  at  the  same  time  the 
principle  was  asserted  and  proclaimed  that  the  British  Par- 
liament had  the  right  to  tax  the  colonies.  As  the  Amer- 
icans would  not  accept  this  point  of  view,  friction  grew 
apace  and  soon  led  to  mob  violence.  The  British  ministry, 
which  was  under  the  direction  of  a  very  high-spirited  king, 
resorted  to  military  force,  and  the  answer  of  the  Americans 
to  this  measure  was  the  resolution  to  revolt  (Declaration  of 
Independence,  1776).  In  1778  the  colonists,  through 
their  agent,  Benjamin  Franklin,  made  an  alliance  with 
France,  and  from  this  time  on  the  English  were  hard  pressed 
by  land  and  by  sea.  Finally,  the  surrender  of  Yorktown 
(1781)  to  the  American  hero  of  the  war,  George  Washing- 
ton, disposed  the  English  to  peace.  In  the  Peace  of  Ver- 
sailles (1783)  England  made  France  a  few  unimportant 
colonial  concessions,  but  the  really  memorable  feature  of 
the  peace  was  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the 
American  colonies. 

This  American  success  stimulated  the  Irish  to  demand  for 
themselves  a  greater  measure  of  freedom  than  their  land  had 
hitherto  enjoyed.  There  had  always  been  an  Irish  Parlia- 
ment, but  its  legislative  power  was  illusory ;  it  could  pass 
no  act  which  had  not  been  first  approved  by  the  English 


England  and  France  in  the  Eighteenth  Century     263 

Privy  Council.  A  further  weakness  of  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment was  that  only  the  great  Protestant  land-owners  were 
represented  in  it.  Toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury the  feeling  began  to  spread,  even  among  a  part  of  the 
Protestant  population  of  Ireland,  that  the  alleviation  of  the 
eternal  Irish  misery  was  dependent,  first  of  all,  on  the  abol- 
ition of  the  English  supervision,  and  as  the  government  at 
London  had  been  rendered  cautious  by  the  American  revo- 
lution, the  ministry  was  persuaded  to  put  an  act  through 
Parliament  establishing  Irish  Legislative  Independence,  or  Irish  Legis- 
what  would  now  be  called  Home  Rule  (1782).  Unfortu-  pend^ence,^' 
nately  the  island  was  not  pacified  by  this  concession.  The  ^782. 
religious  animosities  existing  between  the  Catholic  natives 
and  the  Protestant  colonists  were  of  such  long  standing 
that  they  could  not  be  buried  in  a  day.  When  in  1798 
disturbances  took  place  which  were  accompanied  by  ruth- 
less massacres  on  both  sides,  the  younger  Pitt,  who  was 
Prime  Minister  at  the  time,  resolved  to  have  done  with  the 
insufferable  situation.  He  passed  (1800)  an  Act  of  Union  The  Act  of 
which  destroyed  the  independence  of  Ireland  for  good  and 
all,  and  incorporated  the  Irish  Parliament  with  the  British 
Parliament  at  London.  Since  then  Ireland  has  been  ruled 
in  all  respects  from  the  English  capital. 

The  Act  of  Union  did  not  greatly  occupy  the  public 
mind.  For  when  it  was  passed  the  French  Revolution, 
though  it  was  now  in  its  twelfth  year,  was  still  holding  the 
attention  of  all  Europe  riveted  upon  it.  yf 


Union,  1800. 


PERIOD  III 

The  Political  Revolutions  and  the  Reconstruction 

OF  THE  European  States;  from  the  French 

Revolution  to  the  Congress  of  Berlin 

(1789-1878) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

General  Histories. 

[For  General  Histories  which  cover  the  whole  Modern  Period,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  bibliography  of  Period  I.] 

H.  M,  Stephens:  European  History  from  1789  to  1815.  Valuable 
especially  for  the  developments  in  France. 

Rose:  The  Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  Era  (1789-18 15).  Valu- 
able especially  for  the  history  of  Napoleon  and  his  struggle  with 
Europe. 

Muller :   Political  History  of  Recent  Times  (1815-80). 

Fyffe :   History  of  Modern  Europe.     3  vols. 

Special  Histories. 

[For  Special  Histories  which  cover  the  whole  Modem  Period,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  bibliography  of  Period  I.] 

Great  Britain. 

McCarthy,  Justin  :   A  History  of  Our  Own  Times,     4  vols. 
McCarthy,  Justin :   Ireland  Since  the  Union. 

France. 
Lanfrey :  Napoleon  I.     4  vols.     Antagonistic  to  Napoleon  and  his 

policy. 
Taine  :  The  Ancient  Regime  and  the  French  Revolution.     An  unri- 
valled analysis  of  French  society. 
264 


Period  III — Bibliography  265 

Madame  de  Remusat,  Memoirs  of.      Invaluable  for  the  study  of  the 

personality  of  Napoleon. 
Seeley  :   Napoleon  I.      Maintains  a  comprehensive  historical  point  of 

view, 
Sloane  :   Napoleon  I.     A  large,  fair  treatment. 
Carlyle  :   The  French  Revolution.      Properly  an  epic,  giving  the  view 

rather  of  a  poet  than  of  a  historian. 

Gertnany. 

Seeley :  I^ife  and  Times  of  Stein  ;  or,  Germany  and  Prussia  in  the  Na- 
poleonic Age.     3  vols.      An  excelleat  and  intimate  study. 

Bigelow :  History  of  the  German  Struggle  for  Liberty.  2  vols. 
Vivacious  but  careless. 

Von  Sybel :  The  Founding  of  the  German  Empire  by  William  I,  A 
splendid  monument  to  the  skill  of  Bismarck. 

Lowe  :   Prince  Bismarck.     2  vols.     Full  of  insight  and  appreciation. 

Whitman:  Imperial  Germany.  A  capable  analysis  of  politics  and 
society. 

Italy. 

Mazade  :  The  Life  of  Count  Cavour. 

Thayer :   The  Dawn  of  Italian  Independence.      2  vols. 

Works  of  the  Imagination. 

Dickens  :   Tale  of  Two  Cities.  Time  of  French  Revolution. 

Victor  Hugo  :  Ninety  Three ;  also  Les  Miserables. 

Gras :  The  Reds  of  the  Midi.  Time  of  the  French  Revolution. 


CHAPTER   I 


THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION    (1789-1815) 


The  condition 
of  France  at 
the  end  of  the 
eighteenth 
century. 


Decav  due  to 
system  of 
government. 


If  the  seventeenth  century,  which  recalls  the  names  of 
Richelieu,  Colbert,  and  Louis  XIV.,  was  the  period  of  the 
expansion  of  France,  the  eighteenth  century,  associated 
with  such  names  as  the  Regent  Orleans,  Louis  XV.,  and 
Madame  de  Pompadour,  proved  the  period  of  French  de- 
cay. We  have  just  seen  that  the  Seven  Years'  War  all  but 
completed  the  ruin  of  the  kingdom ;  the  defeats  of  the 
armies  of  France  in  Germany  destroyed  her  military  pres- 
tige, and  her  maritime  disasters  overthrew  her  naval  power 
and  deprived  her  of  her  colonies.  But  the  loss  of  her  great 
position  was  not  the  worst  consequence  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War.  France  found  herself,  on  the  conclusion  of  the  Peace 
of  Paris  (1763),  in  such  a  condition  of  exhaustion,  that  it 
was  doubtful,  even  to  patriots,  whether  she  would  ever 
recover  health  and  strength. 

The  case,  at  first  sight,  seemed  anomalous.  Here  was  a 
country  which,  in  point  of  natural  resources,  had  the  advan- 
tage over  every  other  country  of  Europe  ;  its  population, 
which  was  estimated  at  25,000,000,  was  greater  than  that 
of  any  rival  state  ;  and  the  mass  of  the  nation  had  no  cause 
to  fear  comparison  with  any  other  people,  as  regards  indus- 
try, thrift,  and  intelligence.  If  this  people  so  constituted 
tottered  in  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  on  the 
verge  of  disruption,  that  circumstance  cannot  be  ascribed 
to  any  inherent  defect  in  the  nation.  It  was  due  solely  to 
the  break-down  of  the  system  of  government  and  of  society, 
which  bound  the  nation  together. 

266 


The  French  Revolution  267 

The  reader  is  acquainted  with  the  development  of  the  The  king  is 
absolute  power  of  the  French  king.  The  king  had  ab- 
sorbed, gradually,  all  the  functions  of  government.  In  fact, 
as  Louis  XIV.  himself  had  announced,  the  king  had  be- 
come the  state.  ^  The  local  administration,  once  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  nobihty,  had,  with  the  overthrow  of  the 
nobility  in  the  seventeenth  century,  been  transferred  to 
royal  appointees,  called  intendants  ;  the  feudal  Parliament, 
or  States-General,  had  fallen  into  abeyance ;  and  whenever 
the  supreme  law-courts  of  the  realm,  known  2.%  parlements ^ 
tried  by  refusing  to  register  a  royal  decree  to  exercise  the 
small  measure  of  power  which  they  possessed,  the  king 
cowed  them  by  a  lit  de  justice.  In  an  address  delivered  on 
the  occasion  of  such  a  ///  de  justice  (1766),  Louis  XV. 
could,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  make  the  following 
assertion  concerning  the  royal  prerogative  :  "In  my  person 
resides  the  sovereign  authority.  I  hold  the  legislative 
power  and  share  it  with  no  one.  The  entire  public  life  is 
sustained  by  me." 

It  is  plain  that  such  extensive  duties  devolving  on  the 
king,  only  a  very  superior  monarch  was  capable  of  holding 
and  giving  value  to  the  royal  office.  Louis  XIV.  never 
failed  at  least  in  assiduity.  But  his  successor,  Louis  XV., 
who  was  weak  and  frivolous,  and  incapable  of  sustained 
work,  shirked  the  exercise  of  the  powers  which  he  none  the  Louis  XV. 
less  claimed  as  his  due.  Instead  of  laboring  in  his  cabinet, 
he  allowed  his  time  to  be  monopolized  by  hunts  and  spec- 
tacles, and  his  vitality  to  be  consumed  by  entertainments 
frequently  prolonged  to  revolting  orgies.  The  result  was 
that  the  business  of  governing  fell  to  a  greedy  horde  of 
courtiers  and  adventuresses,  who  were  principally  concerned 
with  fattenis*-  their  fortunes,  and  who  sacrificed  with  no 


See  Period  II.,  Chapter  II. 


268  Modern  Europe 


more  regret  than  is  expressed  by  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders 
and  a  laugh,  every  interest  of  the  state. 
The  feudal  If  under  Louis  XV.   the  centralized  monarchy  progres- 

'^priviieged         sively  declined,  the  whole  social  fabric  which  that  monarchy 
orders.  crowned,  exhibited  no  less  certain  signs  of  decay  and  dis- 

ruption. French  society,  like  that  of  all  Europe,  had  its 
starting-point  in  the  feudal  principle  of  class.  In  feudal 
times  there  had  been  recognized  two  great  governing 
classes,  the  clergy  and  the  nobility.  In  return  for  certain 
fundamental  services  rendered  by  them  to  society,  such  as 
instruction,  spiritual  comfort,  administration  of  justice,  and 
maintenance  of  the  peace,  they  had  been  granted  a  per- 
sonal direction  of  the  subjects  committed  to  their  care, 
much  like  the  authority  which  a  father  exercises  over  his 
children.  The  absolute  monarchy  of  France  had,  to  a 
greater  extent  than  the  monarchy  of  any  other  country, 
relieved  the  feudal  orders  of  their  duties  ;  the  monarchy  had 
gradually  taken  it  upon  itself  to  administer  justice  and 
maintain  peace.  But  the  monarchy  compensated  the 
feudal  orders  for  the  loss  of  political  influence,  entailed  l)y 
the  sacrifice  of  their  real  functions,  by  leaving  in  their 
hands  a  great  number  of  their  old  rights.  Thus  the  clergy 
and  nobility  were  generally  exempt  from  taxation.  In  the 
old  feudal  times,  such  exemption  was  the  just  recompense  for 
specific  services  rendered  to  society.  Now,  although  the 
services  were  rendered  by  the  king,  the  feudal  orders  were 
still  favored  with  the  old  freedom  from  taxation ;  conse- 
quently, what  had  once  been  an  act  of  justice,  had  become 
an  iniquity. 
The  army,  the  We  are  now  in  a  position  to  understand  why  the  France 
themiministra-  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  divided  into  privileged  and 
(ion  reserved  unprivileged  classes,  or  into  subjects  who  paid,  and  into 
subjects  who  did  not  pay.  Such  a  division  was  abominable, 
but  the  social  injustice,  existing  in  France,  did  not  end 


The  French  Revolution  269 

here.  Not  only  had  the  feudal  orders  become  mere  privi- 
leged orders,  who  did  not  contribute  to  the  support  of  the 
government  in  a  measure  even  approximately  proportionate 
to  their  strength,  but  all  the  honors  and  emoluments  of  the 
monarchy  were  reserved  to  them.  No  least  lieutenancy  in 
the  army,  which  the  money  of  the  commoners  supported, 
was  open  to  a  son  of  a  commoner,  and  neither  the  Church 
nor  the  government,  except  in  rare  instances,  admitted 
into  their  service  the  man  of  humble  birth. 

The  membership  of  the  two  orders  to  whom  these  ex-   The  numbers 

^        .  .    .,  J  ^1  n^,        and  the  wealth 

tensive  privileges  were  reserved,  was  not  very  large.  Ihe  oftheprivi- 
noble  famihes  numbered  25,000  to  30,000,  with  an  aggre-  ^^s^^- 
gate  membership  of  perhaps  140,000 ;  and  the  clergy,  in- 
cluding the  various  religious  orders  and  the  parish  priests, 
had  an  enrollment  of  about  as  many  names.  These  two 
castes  between  them  owned  about  half  the  land  of  France, 
so  that  it  could  be  fairly  claimed  by  the  indignant  people 
that  the  principle  of  taxation  which  obtained  in  their  coun- 
try was:  to  relieve  those  who  did  not  need  relief,  and  to 
burden  those  who  were  already  overburdened. 

But  if  nobility  and  clergy  were,  comparatively  speaking,  Their  mode  of 
very  well  off,  their  means  were  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the 
demands  which  their  style  of  life  made  upon  their  purses. 
The  king  required  the  nobles  to  live  at  court  the  greater 
part  of  the  year ;  at  Versailles  and  Paris  they  accordingly 
ruined  themselves  by  maintaining  great  houses  and  indulg- 
ing in  fetes,  games  of  chance,  and  all  the  excitements  of  ^  ^ 
an  idle  society.  The  great  Church  dignitaries,  who  were, 
for  the  most  part,  younger  sons  of  noble  families,  emulated 
and  if  anything  outshone  the  secular  nobility  by  the  lavish- 
ness  of  their  mode  of  life.  The  result  was,  that  the  court 
swarmed  with  a  bankrupt  aristocracy  which  lived  from 
hand  to  mouth  by  means  of  pensions  granted  by  the  king 
out  of  the  public  treasury.     These  pensions,  running  up 


270 


Modern  Europe 


The  upper  and 
the  lower 
clergy. 


The  progress 
of  the  Third 
Estate. 


into  the  millions,  and  lavished  upon  creatures  whose  only 
merit  was,  as  a  contemporary  writer  put  it,  *'  to  have  taken 
the  trouble  to  be  born,"  were  the  sorest  affliction  of  the 
budget,  and  the  least  excusable  factor  contributing  to  the 
annual  deficit. 

There  is  no  need  to  say  that  a  hierarchy  which  recruited 
itself  from  the  nobility,  and  like  the  nobility  spent  its  days 
in  hunting,  gambling,  and  paying  visits,  was  not  suited  to 
discharge  its  spiritual  functions.  But  it  would  be  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  the  mode  of  life  of  the  higher  clergy 
prevailed  among  the  rank  and  file.  In  the  provinces  there 
were  to  be  found  priests  on  starvation  salaries,  who  devoted 
themselves  to  their  parish  duties  with  mediaeval  fervor. 
These  hardly  felt  that  there  was  any  bond  between  them 
and  their  noble  superiors,  while  a  thousand  ties  united 
them  with  the  people  from  whom  they  were  sprung.  A 
notable  consequence  of  this  fact  was,  that  when  the  revolu- 
tion broke  out,  the  lower  clergy  sided  with  the  people 
against  the  privileged  hierarchy. 

The  commoners,  or  members  of  the  Third  Estate  (tiers 
etat),  who  were  shut  out  from  the  places  of  authority  re- 
served to  the  first  two  estates  of  the  realm,  were  reduced  to 
finding  an  outlet  for  their  energy  in  the  field  of  business 
enterprise  or  else  in  literature.  They  succeeded  in  piling 
up  wealth  both  in  Paris  and  in  the  cities  of  the  provinces, 
untiltheir  resources,  constantly  increased  through  thrift  and 
hard  work,  far  exceeded  those  of  the  nobility,  who  con- 
cerned themselves  only  with  elegantly  spending  what  they 
had  and  what  they  could  borrow.  Thus  the  bourgeoisie 
had  long  been  better  off  than  the  nobility  ;  and  now  they 
proceeded  to  surpass  the  nobility  in  other  respects.  For 
increase  of  wealth  had  brought  increase  of  leisure  and  of 
the  desire  and  power  to  learn  and  grow.  So  it  happened 
that  in  the  progress  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  Third 


The  French  Revolution  271 

Estate  had  fairly  become  the  intellectual  hearth  of  France. 
One  need  for  proof  look  only  at  the  great  writers  of  the 
eighteenth  century — for  example,  Voltaire  and  Rousseau ; 
they  are  almost  without  exception  of  the  middle  class. 

But  if  the  bourgeoisie  was  doubtlessly  prospering,  the  The  misery 
case  was  different  with  the  vast  majority  of  French  subjects,  \^^  class."  " 
who  are  often  called  the  Fourth  Estate,  and  who  embraced 
the  two  utterly  wretched  classes  of  the  urban  proletariat 
and  the  peasants.  The  proletariat  was  composed  of  the 
artisans  and  day-laborers,  and  was  the  product  of  the  new 
industrial  system.  Being  of  recent  origin  it  was  unorgan- 
ized and  consequently  completely  under  the  heel  of  the 
capitalist  middle  class.  The  middle  class  controlled  the 
commercial  and  industrial  situation  by  means  of  its  guilds, 
and  shut  all  but  old  bourgeois  families  out  of  them  with 
as  much  zeal  as  the  nobles  displayed  in  keeping  their  ranks 
free  from  the  defilement  of  citizen  upstarts.  With  reference 
to  the  proletariat,  the  middle  class  was,  in  its  turn,  a  privi- 
leged order,  and  we  can  easily  understand  that  the  oppres- 
sion with  which  the  bourgeoisie  saddled  the  proletariat  was 
filling  that  body  with  a  ferment  of  increasing  discontent. 

But  the  class  of  which  the  condition  was  most  abject,  was,  The  misery 
undoubtedly,  the  peasants.  Their  obligations  exceeded  all  antry. 
justice  and  reason.  The  lord  of  the  manor  exacted  rent 
from  them ;  the  Church  levied  tithes ;  and  the  king  collected 
taxes  almost  at  will.  The  result  was  that  the  peasants  did  not 
have  enough  left  over  from  their  toil  to  live  on.  Vast  areas 
of  the  soil  of  France  had,  therefore,  in  the  course  of  the  last 
few  decades  been  deserted  by  the  peasants,  and  in  some  of  the 
most  fertile  places  famine  had  become  an  annual  guest.  An 
English  gentleman,  Arthur  Young,  who  made  a  journey 
through  France,  just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution, 
was  horrified  by  the  bent,  starved,  and  diseased  figures 
which  he  encountered  in  all  the  villages.     And  if  the  reg- 


272 


Modern  Europe 


The  demand 
for  reform. 


The  intellect- 
ual revolt 


ular  taxes  by  any  chance  left  anything  in  the  hands  of  the 
peasants,  that  little  was  constantly  jeopardized  by  certain 
remaining  feudal  obligations.  Thus  the  lord  of  the  land 
had  the  sole  right  to  hunt,  and  the  peasant  was  forbidden 
to  erect  fences  to  shut  out  the  game  from  his  fields.  If  the 
cavalcade  from  the  chateau  dashed  over  the  young  wheat  in 
the  spring,  the  peasant  could  do  nothing  but  look  on  at  the 
ruin  of  his  year,  hold  his  peace,  and  starve.^ 

A  government  struck  with  impotence,  a  society  divided 
into  discordant  classes — these  are  the  main  features  of  the 
picture  we  have  just  examined.  French  public  life  in  the 
eighteenth  century  had  become  intolerable.  Dissolution 
of  that  life,  in  order  that  reform  might  follow,  was  patently 
the  only  possible  escape  out  of  the  perennial  misery.  This 
the  educated  people  began  to  see  more  and  more  clearly, 
and  a  school  of  writers,  known  as  the  philosophers,  made 
themselves  their  mouthpiece. 

The  eighteeenth  century  is  the  century  of  criticism. 
Men  had  begun  to  overhaul  the  whole  body  of  tradition  in 
state,  Church,  and  society,  and  to  examine  their  institu- 
tional inheritances  from  the  point  of  view  of  common  sense. 
If  things  had  been  allowed  to  stand  hitherto,  because  they 
were  approved  by  the  past,  they  were  to  be  permitted  hence- 
forth only  because  they  were  serviceable,  and  necessary  to 
the  present.  Reason,  in  other  words,  was  to  be  the  rule 
of  life.  This  gospel  the  philosophers  spread  from  end  to 
end  of  Europe.  They  opened  fire  upon  everything  that  ran 
counter  to  reason  and  science — upon  the  intolerance  of  the 
Church,  upon  the  privileges  of  the  nobility,  upon  the  abuse 
of  the  royal  power,  upon  the  viciousness  of  criminal  justice, 
and  a  hundred  other  things. 


'  Other  vexatious  feudal  dues  were  the  corv^es  (compulsory  mending 
of  the  roads),  bridge-tolls,  and  the  obligation  to  grind  corn  in  the  mill 
of  the  lord,  and  bake  bread  in  his  oven. 


The  French  Revolution 


273 


Although  the  revolt  against  the  authority  of  tradition  was   The  centre  of 
universal  in  the   eighteenth    century,    the  leading    names      ^'"^'^  ^^*' 


among  the  philosophers  are  those  of  Frenchmen.  This  in 
itself  is  an  indication  that  France  was  the  country  most  in 
need  of  a  reign  of  reason.  And  of  all  the  French  philos- 
ophers, Voltaire-  *  and  Rousseau  ^  carried  on  the  most  effec- 
tive agitation  in  behalf  of  the  new  programme.  By  means 
of  their  work  and  that  of  their  followers,  it  was  brought 
about  that  long  before  the  Revolution  of  1789  there  had 
occurred  a  revolution  in  the  realm  of  ideas,  by  which  the 
hold  of  the  existing  Church,  state,  and  society  on  the 
minds  of  men  had  been  signally  loosened.  All  that  the 
material  Revolution  of  1789  did  was  to  register  this  fact  in 
the  institutions  and  in  the  laws. 

A  society  which  has  become  thoroughly  discredited  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  compose  it,  is  likely  to  fall  apart 
at  any  moment,  and  through  a  hundred  different  agencies. 
The  agency  which  directly  led  up  to  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, and  gave  the  signal,  as  it  were,  for  the  dissolution  of 
the  ancien  regime,  was  the  state  of  the  finances.  The  debts 
of  Louis  XIV.  had  been  increased  by  the  wars  and  extrav- 
agances of  Louis  XV.,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  France  was  confronted  by  the  difficulty  of  a 
chronic  deficit.  As  long  as  Louis  XV.  reigned  (1715-74), 
the  deficit  was  covered  by  fresh  loans.  Although  the  device 
was  dangerous,  it  did  not  arouse  any  apprehension  in  that 
monarch's   feeble  mind.      "  Things  will  hold  together  till 


ual  revolt  is 
France. 


The  chronic 
deficit. 


'  Voltaire  (1694-1778),  excelled  in  the  use  of  mockery.  He  made  the 
contemporary  world  ridiculous  to  itself  Because  his  writings  were  so 
specifically  addressed  to  his  own  time,  they  have  not  all  retained  their 
interest.  Perhaps  his  most  valuable  production  is  "  I'Essai  sur  les 
Mceurs. '' 

2  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau  (1712-78)  was  a  Genevan  by  birth.  In  his 
"  Emile  "  (a  work  on  education)  and  his  "  Contrat  Social"  (a  work  on  so- 
ciety), he  prea-^hed  the  return  from  artificiality  to  nature.  Both  Voltaire 
and  Rousseau  were  eloquent  in  their  demand  for  civil  and  religious  lib- 
erty. 


274 


Modern  Europe 


The  accession 
of  Louis  XVI. 


Attempts  at 
financial  re- 
form. 


my  death,"  he  was  in  the  habit  of  saying  complacently, 
and  Madame  de  Pompadour  would  add,  nonchalantly, 
''After  us  the  deluge." 

When  Louis  XVI.  (1774-92)  succeeded  his  grandfather, 
the  question  of  financial  reform  would  not  brook  any  fur- 
ther delay.  The  new  king  was,  at  his  accession,  only 
twenty  years  old.  He  was  honestly  desirous  of  helping  his 
people,  but  he  had,  unfortunately,  neither  the  requisite 
energy  nor  the  requisite  intelligence  for  developing  a  pro- 
gramme, and  carrying  it  through,  in  spite  of  opposition. 
His  queen,  Marie  Antoinette,  the  daughter  of  Maria 
Theresa  of  Austria,  was  a  lovely  and  vivacious  creature, 
but  as  young  and  inexperienced  as  himself. 

The  fifteen  years  from  Louis's  accession  to  the  outbreak 
of  the  Revolution  (1774-89),  constitute  a  period  of  unin- 
termitted  struggle  with  the  financial  distress.  The  question 
was  how  to  make  the  revenues  meet  the  expenditures.  New 
taxes  proved  no  solution.  Excessive  taxation  had  already 
reduced  the  country  to  starvation,  and  where  there  was  noth- 
ing, no  tax-gatherer's  art  could  succeed  in  pressing  out  a 
return.  Plainly  the  only  feasible  solution  was  reform. 
The  lavish  expenditure  of  the  court  would  have  to  be  cut 
down ;  the  waste  and  peculation  in  the  administration 
would  have  to  cease  ;  and  the  taxes  would  have  to  be  re- 
distributed, the  burdens  being  put  upon  the  shoulders  that 
could  bear  them.  For  the  consideration  of  these  matters 
Louis  at  first  called  into  his  cabinet  a  number  of  notable 
men.  Among  his  ministers  of  finance  (contr61eur  general) 
were  the  economist  Turgot  (1774-76),  and  the  banker 
Necker  (first  ministry,  1778-81  ;  second  ministry,  1788- 
90).  Both  labored  earnestly  at  reform,  but  both  became 
the  victims  of  the  hatred  of  the  courtiers  and  the  nobles, 
who  would  neither  consent  to  retrench  their  expenses  nor 
give  up  their  privileges. 


The  French  Revolution  275 

For  a  few  years  after  Necker's  first  dismissal,  the  govern-   The  king  ap- 
ment  eked  out  an  existence  by  means  of  loans.     The  per-   states-°Gen- 
sistent  practice  of  this  abuse,   however,  inevitably  under-  ^^^^• 
mined  the  national  credit.     Toward  the  end  of  the  eighties 
the  king  stared  bankruptcy  in  the  face.     Since  he  was  ab- 
solutely without  further  resource,  he  now  resolved  to  appeal 
to  the  nation.   The  determination  was  in  itself  a  revolution, 
for  it  contained  the  admission  that  the  absolute  monarchy 
had  failed.     In  May,    1789,  there  assembled  at   Paris,   in 
order  to  take  counsel  with  the  king  about  the  national  dis- 
tress, the  States-General  of  the  realm. 

The  States-General  were  the  old  feudal  Parliament  of  The  states- 
France,  composed  of  the  three  orders,  the  clergy,  the  meri^con^'" 
nobles,  and  the  commons.     As  the  States-General  had  not   ^^H^f  by  the 

feudal  orders. 

met  for  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years,  it  was  not 
strange  that  nobody  was  acquainted  with  their  mode  of 
procedure.  So  much  was  certain,  however,  that  the  assem- 
■  bly  had  formerly  voted  by  orders,  and  that  the  action  of 
the  privileged  orders  had  always  been  decisive. 

The  first  question  which  arose  in  the  assembly  was  whether   The  question 
the  feudal  orders  should  be  allowed  this  traditional  suprem-   stales^Generai 
acy  in  the  new  States-General.     Among  the  members  of  are  to  be  an 

^  °  ancient  or  a 

the  Third  Estate,  as  the  commons  were  called  in  France,  modern  body, 
there  was,  of  course,  only  one  answer.  These  men  held 
that  the  new  States-General  were  representative,  not  of  the 
old  feudal  realm,  but  of  the  united  nation,  and  that  every- 
body, therefore,  must  have  an  equal  vote.  In  other  words, 
the  Third  Estate  maintained  that  the  vote  should  not  be 
taken  by  order,  but  individually.  As  the  Third  Estate  had 
been  permitted  to  send  twice  as  many  delegates  (six  hun- 
dred) as  either  clergy  or  nobility  (three  hundred  each),  it 
was  plain  that  the  proposition  of  the  Third  Estate  would 
give  that  body  the  preponderance.  The  clergy  and  nobil- 
ity, therefore,  offered  a  stubborn  resistance ;   but,  after  a 


276 


Modern  Europe 


month  of  contention,  the  Third  Estate  cut  the  knot  by 
boldly  declaring  itself,  with  or  without  the  feudal  orders, 
the  National  Assembly  (June  17).  Horrified  by  this  act 
of  violence  the  king  and  the  court  tried  to  cow  the  com- 
mons by  an  abrupt  summons  to  submit  to  the  old  procedure, 
but  when  the  commons  refused  to  be  frightened,  the  king 
himself  gave  way,  and  ordered  the  clergy  and  nobility  to 
join  the  Third  Estate  (June  27).  Thus,  at  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  Revolution,  the  power  passed  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  king  and  feudal  orders  into  the  hands  of  the 
people. 

The  National  Assembly  (lyS^-gi). 


The  National 
Assembly  in- 
telligent, but 
unpractical. 


The  leading 
men. 


The  National  Assembly,  which  was  thus  constituted  to 
regenerate  France,  was  composed  of  the  most  intelligent 
men  whom  France  could  then  boast.  Moreover,  the  mem- 
bers were  animated  by  a  pure  enthusiasm  to  serve  their 
country.  In  fact,  it  was  impossible  to  live  in  that  momen- 
tous year  of  1789  without  feeling  that  an  unexampled  op- 
portunity had  arrived  for  helping  France  and  all  mankind 
forward  on  the  road  of  civilization.  Something  of  this 
magnanimous  spirit  invaded  the  Assembly,  and  directed  its 
labors  from  the  first  day.  Unfortunately,  a  fatal  defect 
more  than  counterbalanced  this  generous  disposition.  The 
Assembly  was  composed  of  theorists,  of  men  who  were  in- 
experienced in  the  practical  affairs  of  government,  and  was, 
therefore,  calamitously  prone  to  treat  all  questions  which 
arose  as  felicitous  occasions  for  the  display  of  parliamen- 
tary eloquence. 

When  the  Assembly  convened  there  existed  as  yet  no 
political  parties.  But  gradually  parties  began  to  form  about 
the  men  who,  by  virtue  of  their  talents,  took  the  lead. 
Only  a  few  of  these  can  be  pointed  out  here.  There  was 
the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  who  had  won  a  great  name  for 


The  French  Revolution  277 

hinself  in  the  American  Revolution,  and  who,  though  a 
noble,  sympathized  with  all  the  aspirations  of  the  people. 
He  was  known  to  be  generous,  and,  for  the  present,  gener- 
osity sufficed  to  qualify  him  as  a  leader.  No  man  during 
the  first  stage  of  the  Revolution  had  a  greater  following 
within  and  without  the  Assembly.  The  best  representative 
of  the  dogmatic  and  philosophical  spirit  of  the  Assembly 
was  the  Abbd  Sieyes.  He  carried  to  absurd  lengths  the 
idea  that  government  was  a  matter  of  paper  decrees, 
capable  of  being  fashioned  after  some  new  principle  every 
day.  Then  there  was  the  lawyer  Robespierre,  whose  circle, 
though  not  large  at  first,  made  up  for  the  smallness  of  its 
numbers  by  the  stanchness  of  its  devotion  to  the  dapper 
little  man  who  regarded  it  as  his  business  to  parade  on  all 
occasions  a  patriotism  of  an  incorruptible  Roman  grandeur. 
But  the  man  who  rose  head  and  shoulders  above  the  rest 
of  the  Assembly  was  Count  Mirabeau.  Mirabeau  was  a 
born  statesman,  perhaps  the  only  man  in  the  whole  Assem- 
bly who  instinctively  knew  that  a  government  was  as  natu- 
ral and  gradual  a  growth  as  a  plant  or  a  child.  He  wished, 
therefore,  to  keep  the  inherited  monarchy  intact,  with  just 
such  reforms  as  would  restore  it  to  health  arfd  vigor.  The 
strong  constitutional  monarchy,  much  stronger  than  that 
of  England,  was  his  ideal.  Unfortunately,  he  never  suc- 
ceeded in  acquiring  a  guiding  influence.  In  the  first  place, 
he  was  a  noble,  and  therefore  subject  to  suspicion  ;  then  his 
early  life  had  been  a  succession  of  scandals,  which  now 
rose  up  and  bore  witness  against  him,  undermining  confi- 
dence in  his  honor. 

The  primary  business  of  the  National  Assembly  was  the  Degeneration 
making  of  a  new  constitution.  ^  It  was  of  the  highest  im-  SJjtion  dueTo 
portance  that  this  work  should  be  done  in  perfect  security,    *^^  '^°^* 


'  For  this  reason  the  National  Assembly  is  known  also  as  the  Constit- 
uent Assembly. 


278 


Modern  Europe 


Growth  of 
anarchy. 


Fall  of  the 
Bastille, 
July  14. 


free  from  the  interference  of  popular  passion  and  violence. 
As  the  National  Assembly  represented  the  propertied  in- 
terests, there  seemed  to  be  every  chance  of  calm  and  sys- 
tematic procedure;  but  unfortunately  the  Assembly  soon 
fell  under  the  domination  of  the  mob,  and  that  proved  the 
ruin  of  the  Revolution.  The  growth  of  the  influence  of  the 
lower  elements,  who  interpreted  reform  as  anarchy,  is  the 
most  appalling  concomitant  of  the  great  events  of  1789. 
If  we  understand  this  fact,  we  have  the  key  to  the  awful 
degeneration  of  what  certainly  was,  at  its  outset,  a  gener- 
ous movement. 

For  this  degeneration  the  king  and  the  commons  were 
both  responsible,  as  well  by  reason  of  what  they  did  as  of 
what  they  did  not  do.  Let  us  understand  that  the  sudden 
failure  of  absolutism  in  June,  1789,  naturally  threw  France 
into  unutterable  confusion.  Parisian  mobs  frequently  fell 
upon  and  murdered  the  royal  officials,  while  the  peasants 
everywhere  freely  burnt  and  plundered  the  castles  of  the 
nobles.  In  view  of  these  irregularities,  king  and  National 
Assembly  should  have  united  to  maintain  order,  but  unite 
they  would  not,  because  the  king,  who  was  under  the  domi- 
nation of  Marie  Antoinette  and  the  court,  distrusted  the 
Assembly,  and  because  the  Assembly  feared  the  designs  of 
the  court  and  the  king. 

And  in  fact,  early  in  July,  it  was  discovered  that  the 
court  was  plotting  to  dissolve  the  Assembly,  and  overawe 
the  Parisians  by  the  concentration  of  troops.  At  this  news 
a  tremendous  excitement  seized  the  people.  Armed  crowds 
gathered  in  the  streets,  and  clamorous  to  teach  the  court  a 
lesson,  threw  themselves  upon  the  Bastille,  the  ancient  state 
prison  and  royal  fortress  in  the  heart  of  Paris.  After  a 
bloody  encounter  with  the  royal  troops,  they  took  the 
gloomy  stronghold,  and  in  their  fury  razed  it  to  the  ground 
(July  14). 


The  French  Revolution  279 

The  fall  of  the  Bastille  was  celebrated  throughout  France   Expected 
as  the  end  of  tyranny  and  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  of  broth-   erty?  equality, 
erly  love.     And  in  truth  there  was  much  suggestive  of  a  ^^^  fraternity, 
new  and  promising  beginning  in  the  destruction  of  a  mon- 
ument which  had  been  the   witness  of  the  brutalities  of 
mediaeval  justice,  and  of  the  wanton  oppression  of  the  abso- 
lute king.     Now  indeed  we  know  that  July  14  was  far  from 
being  the  birthday  of  hberty,  equality,  and  fraternity;  but 
it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  the  French  people, 
cherishing  the  memory  of  that  generous  illusion,  should  have 
made  July  14  their  national  holiday. 

The  king  at  Versailles  did  not  misread  the  lesson  which  The 
the  episode  of  the  Bastille  pointed.  All  thought  of  using  ^'"'^'^^  ^°"' 
violence  was  temporarily  dropped,  and  the  irreconcilables 
of  the  court  party,  with  the  king's  brother,  the  count  of 
Artois,  at  their  head,  left  France  in  disgust.  Thus  began 
the  so-called  emigration,  which,  continuing  for  the  next 
few  years,  soon  collected  on  the  borders  of  France,  chiefly 
along  the  Rhine,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  old  priv- 
ileged classes,  who  preferred  exile  to  submission  to  the  new 
system. 

Thus  the  storming  of  the  Bastille  promised  at  first  to  The  National 
clarify  the  situation.  Again  the  king  made  his  bow  to  the  Lafayette. 
Revolution  :  he  paid  a  formal  visit  to  Paris  as  a  pledge  of 
reconciliation,  and  was  received  with  acclamations  of  joy. 
The  well-to-do  citizens  in  return  seemed  to  be  determined 
to  have  done  with  violence  and  follow  the  way  of  sensible 
reform.  They  organized  a  militia,  called  the  National 
Guard,  in  order  to  secure  Paris  from  the  excesses  to  which 
the  city  had  lately  been  exposed,  and  made  the  popular 
Lafayette  commander.  Unfortunately  the  condition  of  the 
capital  was  most  precarious.  The  multitude  of  the  idle 
was  growing  in  numbers  every  day,  and  their  misery,  which 
the  general  stoppage  of  business  steadily  sharpened,  was 


28o  Modern  Europe 


pushing  them  to  the  brink  of  savagery.      It  was  a  question 
whether  Lafayette,  with  his  citizen-guard,  would  be  willing 
or  able  to  chain  the  mob  when  passion  should  transform  it 
into  a  wild  beast. 
The  events  The  test  Came  soon  enough.     In  October,  the  rumor  of 

and  6.^°  ^^  ^  another  plot,  on  the  part  of  the  remnant  of  the  court  party, 
ran  through  Paris.  Excited  men  and  women  told  each 
other  that,  at  a  banquet  of  officers,  held  at  the  palace  of 
Versailles,  the  new  tricolor'  cockade  had  been  trampled 
under  foot,  and  the  health  of  the  king  and  queen  drunk, 
amidst  scenes  of  wild  enthusiasm.  What  really  happened 
was  perfectly  justifiable,  but  suspicion  of  the  king  and  court 
had  sunk  so  deeply  into  the  hearts  of  the  Parisians  that 
every  disparagement  of  the  monarch,  however  silly,  was 
sure  to  be  believed.  Demagogues  announced  that  the 
king  was  the  cause  of  the  famine  in  the  city,  and  that  he  and 
the  court  intercepted  the  grain-carts  outside  of  Paris,  in 
order  that  the  patriots  might  starve.  On  the  morning  of 
October  5,  10,000  women,  fierce  and  haggard  from  long 
suffering,  set  out  for  Versailles  to  fetch  the  king  to  Paris. 
As  they  straggled  over  the  dusty  roads  all  the  male  and  fe- 
male riff-raff  of  the  suburbs  joined  them.  In  the  face  of  this 
tremendous  danger  Lafayette,  the  commander  of  the  militia 
and  guardian  of  the  civil  order,  did  nothing.  If,  as  is  now 
supposed,  he  remained  inactive,  in  order  to  get  the  king 
into  his  power,  an  indelible  stain  attaches  to  his  character. 
Certain  it  is,  that  it  was  only  when  the  National  Guard 
refused  to  wait  longer  that  he  consented  to  conduct  it  to 
Versailles,  and  preserve  peace.  When  he  arrived  there  in 
the  night,  some  hours  after  the  women,  he  found  everything 

'  The  tricolor  was  the  insignia  of  the  new  National  Guard.  It  was 
formed  by  adding  to  the  blue  and  the  red,  the  colors  of  Paris,  the  white 
of  the  Bourbon  kings.  The  tricolor  became  the  emblem  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  is  now  the  national  flag  of  France. 


The  French  Revolution  281 

in  the  greatest  confusion.  By  his  timely  intercession,  how- 
ever, he  saved  the  lives  of  the  royal  family,  and  thus  was 
enabled  to  pose  in  the  gratifying  role  of  preserver  of  the 
monarchy.  But  if  the  mob  spared  the  king  and  queen,  it 
declared  firmly,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  would  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  short  of  the  removal  of  the  king  and  the 
royal  family  to  Paris.  What  could  the  king  do  but  give  his 
consent  ?  On  the  6th,  the  terrible  maenads,  indulging  in 
triumphant  song  and  dance  along  the  road,  escorted  ''  the 
baker,  the  baker's  wife,  and  the  baker's  little  boy  "  to  the  The  king  con- 
Tuileries  at  Paris.  The  National  Assembly,  of  course,  fol-  Tuileries. 
lowed  the  king,  and  was  quartered  in  the  riding-school, 
near  the  palace. 

The  events  of  October  5  and  6,  in  hteral  truth,  ruined  The  mob 
the  monarchy,  and  Lafayette  cannot  escape  the  charge  preme. 
of  having  contributed  in  large  measure  to  the  result. 
The  king  at  the  Tuileries,  indeed,  if  that  was  what  La- 
fayette wanted,  was  now  practically  Lafayette's  prisoner, 
but  Lafayette  himself,  even  though  it  took  him  some 
months  to  find  it  out,  was  henceforth  the  prisoner  of  the 
mob.  The  great  October  days  had  allowed  '^  the  patriots," 
as  the  mob  designated  itself,  to  realize  their  power,  and 
having  once  tasted  the  sweets  of  violence,  they  would 
require  more  than  Lafayette's  energy  to  bring  them  back 
to  a  respect  of  the  law.  Henceforth,  organized  under 
clever  and  unscrupulous  leaders,  *'  the  patriots  "  play  the 
decisive  role  in  the  Revolution,  gradually  but  resistlessly 
forcing  the  king,  Lafayette,  the  National  Assembly,  and  all 
the  constituted  authorities  of  France,  to  bow  down  before 
them  to  the  dust. 

What  greatly  contributed  to  the  power  of  the  mob  was   The  clubs, 
the  excitement  and   vague  enthusiasm  which  possessed  all 
classes  alike.     We  must  always  remember,  in  order  to  un- 
derstand the  tremendous  pace  at  which  the  Revolution  de- 


282 


Modern  Europe 


Cordeliers 
and  Jaco- 
bins. 


The  abolition 
of  privileges, 
August  4. 


veloped,  that  the  year  1789  marks  an  almost  unparalleled 
agitation  of  public  opinion.  Leading  symptoms  of  this 
agitation  were  the  innumerable  pamphlets  and  newspapers 
which  accompanied  the  events  of  the  day  with  explana- 
tory comment.  But  the  most  prominent  and  unique  wit- 
ness of  the  exaltation  of  men's  minds  was  offered  by  the 
clubs.  Clubs  for  consultation  and  debate  became  the 
great  demand  of  the  hour  ;  they  arose  spontaneously  in  all 
quarters;  in  fact,  every  coffee-house  acquired  through  the 
passion  of  its  frequenters,  the  character  of  a  political  asso- 
ciation. Of  all  these  unions  the  Jacobins  and  the  Cor- 
deliers soon  won  the  most  influential  position.  The  Cor- 
deliers recruited  their  numbers  from  among  the  Parisian 
^'  patriots."  Danton  and  Marat  were  among  their  leaders, 
and  the  tone  of  the  club  was,  from  the  first,  wildly  revolu- 
tionary. The  Jacobins  began  much  more  gently.  They 
offered  a  meeting-point  for  the  constitutional  and  educated 
elements,  and  rapidly  spread  in  numberless  branches  or 
so-called  daughter-societies  over  the  length  and  breadth  of 
France.  Unfortunately,  however,  this  club  too  soon  fell  un- 
der the  domination  of  the  extreme  revolutionary  tendencies. 
Lafayette,  Sieyes,  and  Mirabeau,  whose  power  was  at  first 
dominant,  were  gradually  displaced  by  Robespierre ;  and 
Robespierre,  once  in  authority,  skilfully  used  the  club  as 
a  means  of  binding  together  the  radical  opinion  of  the 
country. 

Throughout  the  years  1789  and  1790,  the  National  As- 
sembly was  engaged  with  providing  for  the  government  of 
France,  and  in  making  a  constitution.  The  great  question 
of  the  privileges,  which  had  proved  unsolvable  in  the  early 
years  of  Louis  XVL,  caused  no  difficulties  after  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  had  once  been  constituted.  On  August 
4,  1789,  the  nobility  and  clergy,  in  an  access  of  magnan- 
imity, renounced  voluntarily  their  feudal  rights,  and  de- 


The  French  Revolution  283 

manded  that  they  be  admitted  into  the  great  body  of 
French  citizens  on  a  basis  of  equahty.  August  4  is  one  of 
the  great  days  of  the  Revolution. 

Only  one  other  burning  question  inherited  from  the  an-  Financial  dis- 
cien  regime  remained — the  question  of  the  finances.  The 
general  cessation  of  business  which  attended  the  Revolu- 
tion contributed  of  course  to  the  depletion  of  the  treasury. 
In  order  to  avoid  bankruptcy,  the  National  Assembly  now- 
confiscated  the  property  of  the  clergy,  valued  at  many  mill- 
ions, and  began  the  issue  against  it  of  paper  money  called 
assignats  {^x's>X.  issue,  December,  1789).  The  assignats  dX  Assignats. 
the  beginning  formed  a  perfectly  sound  device,  but  owing 
to  the  continued  needs  of  the  treasury  they  were  multi- 
plied to  such  a  degree  that  they  represented  soon  only  a 
portion  of  their  face  value,  and,  as  the  cheaper  money,  drove 
the  gold  and  silver  out  of  the  country.  The  time,  there- 
fore, was  not  far  off  when  it  would  take  a  bagful  of  assig- 
nats to  buy  a  pair  of  boots.  Under  these  conditions,  the 
finances  fell  into  frightful  disorder,  and  through  the  per- 
manent derangement  of  business  contributed  in  no  small 
measure  to  the  increasing  anarchy  of  the  Revolution. 

In  the  intervals  of  the  discharge  of  the  current  business.  The  character 
the  Assembly  deliberated  concerning  the  future  constitution  stitution. 
of  France.  By  slow  degrees  that  creation  marched  during 
the  succeeding  months  to  completion.  Of  course  it  is 
not  possible  to  examine  it  here  in  any  degree  of  de- 
tail. If  we  remember  that  it  was  the  work  of  men  who  had 
suffered  from  an  absolute  executive,  and  were  under  the 
domination  of  the  dogmatic  philosophy  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  we  shall  understand  its  principal  feature.  This 
feature  of  the  new  constitution  was  that  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  government  was  made  superior  to  the  execu- 
tive branch.  It  was  provided  that  the  legislative  function 
should  be  exercised  by  a  legislature  of  one  house  elected  for 


284  Modern  Europe 


two  years  by  all  the  active  citizens  ^  of  the  kingdom.  Mira- 
beau,  the  great  statesman  of  the  Revolution,  fought  hard  to 
preserve  the  king  that  measure  of  power  which  an  executive 
requires  in  order  to  be  efficient ;  but  he  was  unappreciated 
by  his  colleagues  and  distrusted  by  the  king,  and  in  almost 
all  important  matters  met  defeat.  Broken  down  by  disap- 
pointment and  reckless  excesses  he  died  (April,  1791), 
prophesying  in  his  last  days,  with  marvellous  accuracy,  all 
the  ulterior  stages  of  the  Revolution. 
Death  of  Mira-  The  death  of  Mirabeau  was  lamented  generally  as  the 
beau,  pn  ,  j^^  ^^  ^^  Revolution  of  its  greatest  orator.  Perhaps  the 
king,  who  had  been  strongly  drawn  to  the  statesman  dur- 
ing the  last  months  of  his  life,  was  the  only  one  to  feel  that 
Mirabeau's  death  meant  much  more — meant,  in  fact,  the 
removal  of  the  last  gate  which  hemmed  in  the  revolution- 
ary floods.  Ever  since  October  6,  Louis  had  been  the 
The  intoiera-  virtual  prisoner  of  the  populace,  and  had  lost  all  influence 
the  king.'^"  ^  o^^  ^^  shaping  of  events.  The  constitution,  which  in  the 
spring  of  1791  was  nearing  completion,  and  would  soon  be 
forced  upon  him,  he  regarded  as  intolerable.  But  as  long 
as  Mirabeau  lived  he  retained  some  hopes  of  a  change  among 
the  legislators  in  his  favor.  When  Mirabeau's  death  robbed 
him  of  this  illusion,  it  is  not  strange  that  his  thoughts 
should  have  turned  to  flight  as  the  only  means  of  escaping 
from  a  position  that  was  not  only  insuff'erable  for  him  as 
ruler,  but  exposed  his  queen,  his  children,  and  all  who 
were  dear  to  him  to  daily  and  hourly  insult. 
The  attempted       The  flight  of  the  king  and  the  royal  family  was  arranged 

flight,  June  20,         .  ,       ,  ,-,.,/-    x  a 

1791.  With  the  greatest  secrecy  for  the  night  of  June    20.     A 

little  less  delay  at  the  post  stations,  or  a  little  more  care  on 
the  part  of  the  king  to  keep  himself  in  concealment,  would 


'  Citizens  were  divided  by  this  constitution  into  two  classes  :  active  and 
passive.  Only  the  active  class,  composed  of  those  who  paid  a  certain 
small  contribution,  in  the  form  of  a  direct  tax,  could  vote. 


The  French  Revolution  285 

have  crowned  the  venture  with  success.  But  the  king  was 
recognized  at  Sainte  Menehould  by  one  Drouet,  the  son 
of  the  postmaster;  and  a  Httle  farther  on  at  Varennes, 
where  the  change  of  horses  was  accidentally  prolonged,  the 
travellers  found  themselves  hemmed  in  by  the  mob,  and  ar- 
rested. A  few  days  after  their  departure  the  fugitives  were 
brought  back  to  Paris  as  prisoners. 

The  flight  of  the  king  divided  opinion  in  Paris  sharply.  Division  of 
It  gave  the  constitutional  monarchists  their  first  inkling  °P^^'°'^- 
that  they  had  gone  too  far.  A  monarch  was  neces- 
sary to  their  constitutional  fabric,  and  here  they  beheld 
their  chosen  monarch  refusing  to  serve  their  plan.  They 
began  in  consequence  to  exhibit  suddenly  for  the  captive 
and  disarmed  Louis  a  consideration  which  they  had  never 
accorded  him  in  the  days  when  he  still  had  favors  to  dis- 
pense. The  democrats,  on  the  other  hand,  such  as  Danton 
and  Robespierre,  regarded  the  flight  as  a  welcome  pretext 
for  proclaiming  the  republic.  A  struggle  followed  (July, 
1791),  the  most  ominous  which  Paris  had  yet  witnessed  ; 
but  the  monarchists  were  still  a  majority,  and  by  ordering 
out  the  National  Guard  against  the  rioters,  won  a  victory. 
The  Assembly,  on  hearing  from  the  king  that  he  had  never 
meant  to  leave  the  soil  of  France  nor  employ  force  against  The  king  rein- 
his  subjects,  solemnly  welcomed  him  back  to  office ;  and 
Louis,  in  return,  to  mark  his  reconciliation  with  his  subjects, 
accepted  and  swore  to  observe  the  constitution.  The  As- 
sembly was  pleased  to  imagine  that  it  had,  by  its  magnani- 
mous reinstatement  of  the  king,  settled  all  the  difficulties 
of  the  situation.  On  September  30,  1791,  the  last  artistic  The  Assembly 
touches  having  been  added  to  the  constitution,  it  dissolved  self,  1791. 
itself,  and  retired  from  the  scene.  Its  strenuous  labors  of 
two  years,  from  which  the  enthusiasts  had  expected  the 
renovation  of  old  Europe,  culminated  in  the  gift  to  the 
nation  of  the  completed  liberal  constitution.     The  question 


286 


Modern  Europe 


now  was :  would  the  vaunted  constitution  at  length  inau- 
gurate the  prophesied  era  of  peace  and  happiness  ? 

The  Legislative  Assembly  (October  i,  lygi,  to  September 

21,  1792)' 


Inexperience 
of  the  new 
legislature. 


The  majority 
is  republican. 


The  answer  to  the  above  question  would  depend  largely 
upon  the  First  Legislative  Assembly,  which,  elected  on  the 
basis  of  a  new  constitution,  met  the  day  after  the  National 
Assembly  adjourned.  By  a  self-denying  ordinance,  char- 
acteristic of  the  mistaken  magnanimity  which  pervaded  the 
National  Assembly,  that  body  had  voted  the  exclusion  of  its 
members  from  the  Legislative  Assembly.  The  seven  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  new  legislators  of  France  were,  there- 
fore, all  men  without  experience.  That  alone  constituted  a 
grave  danger,  which  was  still  further  increased  by  the  fact 
that  the  prevailing  type  of  member  was  that  of  the  young 
enthusiast,  who  owed  his  political  elevation  to  the  ora- 
torical vigor  he  had  displayed  in  his  local  Jacobin  Club. 

The  dangerous  disposition  of  the  Assembly  became  ap- 
parent as  soon  as  the  members  grouped  themselves  in 
parties.  Only  a  small  fraction,  called  the  Feuillants,  un- 
dertook to  support  the  constitution.  The  majority,  com- 
posed of  the  two  parties  of  the  Gironde^  and  theMountain,^ 
favored  the  establishment  of  a  republic.  From  the  first 
day,  the  Assembly  set  deliberately  about  destroying  the 
monarchy.  The  stages  by  which  it  accomplished  its  work 
of  ruin  we  need  not  here  consider,  but  the  supreme  blow 
against  the  king  was  delivered  when  he  was  forced  to  de- 
clare war  against  Austria,  and  except  for  this  declaration, 


»  So  called  from  the  fact  that  the  leaders  of  the  party  hailed  from  the 
department  of  the  Gironde. 

'This  party  owes  its  name  to  the  circumstance  that  its  members  took 
their  seats  in  the  Assembly  upon  the  highest  tiers  of  benches. 


The  French  Revolution  287 

which  marks  a  new  mile-stone  in  the  Revolution,  we  can 
almost  forget  the  Legislative  Assembly  entirely. 

The  declaration  of  war  against  Austria  was  the  conse-  The  Assembly 
quence  of  the  menacing  attitude  toward  France  of  the  French  against  aS- 
emigres,  under  the  leadership  of  the  count  of  Provence  and  *^^^'  ^P"^' 
the  count  of  Artois,  the  two  brothers  of  the  king,  and  of 
the  rising  disquiet  of  monarchical  Europe  over  the  excesses 
of  the  Revolution.  The  Emperor  Leopold  IL  was  naturally 
alarmed  by  the  situation  of  his  sister  Marie  Antoinette  and 
of  her  children;  but,  as  a  prudent  man,  he  was  far  from 
desirous  of  engaging  in  a  war  on  her  account.  The  Assem- 
bly knew  of  his  sympathies  for  the  French  royal  family, 
and  chose  to  consider  him,  moreover,  the  special  patron  of 
the  e'mig?'es.  Thus  the  suspicion  in  which  the  republicans 
held  the  emperor  mounted  continually,  and  when,  upon  re- 
peated requests,  Leopold  refused  to  show  an  exemplary  rigor 
against  the  emigres,  who  were  scattered  in  armed  troops 
along  the  Rhine,  the  Assembly,  in  a  passion,  declared  war 
(April  20,  1792). 

Unfortunately,  the  capable  Leopold  had  died  a  month  The  war  des- 
before  the  declaration  was  made,  and  it  was  his  incapable  come  general, 
son,  Francis  IL  (i  792-1835),  who  was  called  to  do  battle 
with  the  Revolution.  But  Leopold  had  before  his  death 
made  some  provision  against  the  eventuality  of  war  with 
France.  In  February,  1792,  frightened  by  the  dangers  to 
the  cause  of  monarchy  lurking  in  the  Revolution,  he  had 
persuaded  Frederick  William  II.  of  Prussia  to  league  him- 
self with  him  in  a  defensive  alliance.  The  declaration 
of  April  20  brought,  therefore,  not  only  Austria,  but  also 
Prussia,  into  the  field.  Thus  began  the  Revolutionary 
Wars  which  were  destined  to  carry  the  revolutionary  ideas 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  to  sweep  away  landmarks  and  tra- 
ditions, and  to  lock  old  Europe  in  death-grapple  with  new 
France,  for  over  twenty  years. 


288  Modern  Europe 

French  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  republican  Girondists, 

^  ^^^^*  who  were  the  real  originators  of  the  war,  expected  an  easy 

victory.  They  saw,  in  a  vision,  the  thrones  of  the  tyrants 
shaking  at  the  irresistible  onset  of  the  revolutionary  ideas, 
and  themselves  hailed  everywhere  as  the  liberators  of  the 
human  race.  But  the  first  engagement  brought  a  sharp  dis- 
appointment. The  undisciplined  French  forces,  at  the 
mere  approach  of  the  Austrians,  scampered  away  without 
risking  a  battle,  and  when  the  summer  came  it  was  known 
that  the  Austrians  and  Prussians  together  had  begun  the  in- 
vasion of  France.  At  this  unexpected  crisis  wrath  and  ter- 
ror filled  the  republicans  in  Paris.  They  began  to  whisper 
the  word  treason,  and  soon  their  orators  dared  to  denounce 
the  king  publicly,  and  in  the  vilest  language,  as  the  author 
of  the  French  defeats.  Every  day  brought  the  Prussian 
van  nearer  Paris ;  every  day  added  to  the  excitement  of  the 
frightened  citizens.  When  the  duke  of  Brunswick,  the 
Prussian  commander-in-chief,  threatened,  in  a  silly  procla- 
mation, to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  capital,  if  but  a  hair  of 

Blame  put  on  the  king's  head  were  injured,  the  seething  passion  burst  in 
a  wave  of  uncontrollable  fury.  In  the  early  morning  of 
August  lo,  the  mob,  organized  by  the  republican  leaders, 
marched  against  the  Tuileries  to  overthrow  the  man  whom 
the  orators  had  represented  as  in  league  with  foreign  des. 
pots  against  the  common  mother,  France. 

Events  of  Au-  When,  during  the  night,  the  signal  bells  from  the  steeples 
rang  out  the  preconcerted  summons  over  the  city,  the  king 
and  his  family  knew  that  the  supreme  struggle  had  come. 
Dispersed  about  in  small  groups,  the  palace  inmates  passed 
the  night  discussing  the  chances  of  the  coming  day.  Of 
all  the  soldiers,  a  regiment  of  mercenary  Swiss  could  alone 
be  counted  on.  The  resolution  taken  in  this  supreme  mo. 
ment  to  win  or  die  at  the  head  of  this  faithful  guard,  might 
have  restored  confidence  in  the  king ;  but  Louis  XVI.  was 


the  kini 


gust  lo,  1792. 


The  French  Revolution  289 


the  last  man  to  be  moved  by  a  heroic  impulse.  If  there 
had  ever  been  one  settled  determination  in  his  breast,  it 
was  that  no  French  blood  should  flow  for  him  in  civil  war. 
At  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  seeing  that  the  mob  was 
making  ready  to  storm  the  palace,  he  abandoned  it  to  seek 
shelter  in  the  Legislative  Assembly.  The  Swiss  guard,  de- 
serted by  their  leader,  made  a  brave  stand.  Only  on  the 
king's  express  order  did  they  give  up  the  Tuileries,  and  at-  , 
tempt  to  effect  a  retreat.  But  the  odds  were  against  them. 
The  enraged  populace  fell  upon  them  and  butchered  most 
of  them  in  the  streets. 

Meanwhile  the  Assembly  was  engaged    in    putting   its   Break-down  of 
official  seal  to  the  verdict  of  the  mob.     With   Louis   him-   and  the^con^s/ 
self  present,  the  members  voted  the  suspension  of  the  king,    t^^ion. 
and  ordered  the  election  of  a  National  Convention  to  con- 
sider the  basis  of  a  new  constitution.     The  present  Assem- 
bly agreed  to  hold  over  till  September  2 1 ,  the  day  when 
the  new  body  was  ordered  to  meet.     Thus  perished,  after 
an  existence  of  ten  months,  the  constitution  which  had  been 
trumpeted  forth  as  the  final  product  of  human  intelligence. 

The  suspension  of  the  king  left  the  government  legally   The    govern- 
in  the  hands  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  and  of  the  min-   hands   of   the 
istry  which  the  Assembly  appointed.      But  as  the  capital   Mountain    ^  ^ 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  mob  and  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment paralyzed,  it  was  found  impossible  to  keep  the  real 
power  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  demagogues,  who, 
on  August  10,  had  had  the  courage  to  strike  down  the  king. 
These  victorious  demagogues  were  identical  with  the  Moun- 
tain party  in  the  Assembly,  and  with  the  '^patriots,"  who 
had  just  possessed  themselves,  by  means  of  violence,  of  the 
city  council  or  commune.     The  most  prominent  figures  of 
this  dread  circle  were  Danton,  Marat,  and  Robespierre,  and 
these  and  their  henchmen  were  the  real  sovereigns  of  France 
during  the  interlude  from  August  10,  the  day  of  the  over- 


290 


Modern  Europe 


The  Mountain 

defends 

France. 


de- 


Prussians 
feated  at 
Valmy,   Sep- 
tember, 1792. 


The     Septem- 
ber massacres. 


throw  of  the  monarchy,  to  September  21,  the  day  of  the 
meeting  of  the  National  Convention. 

It  was  plain  that  the  first  need  of  France  in  this  crisis 
was  to  beat  back  the  invasion.  The  Mountain,  therefore, 
made  itself  the  champion  of  the  national  defense.  Its  ora- 
tors steeled  the  hearts  of  the  citizens  by  infusing  into  them 
an  indomitable  courage.  ''  What  do  we  require  in  order  to 
conquer?  "  cried  Danton  from  the  tribune  of  the  Assembly; 
"  To  dare,  and  dare,  and  dare  again."  The  fatherland  was 
declared  in  danger  ;  all  occupations  ceased  but  those  which 
provided  for  the  necessaries  of  life  and  furnished  weapons  of 
defense;  finally,  the  whole  male  population  was  ordered 
under  arms.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  this  system  of  gov- 
ernment by  violence  and  frenzied  enthusiasm,  it  certainly 
accomplished  its  first  end:  it  put  an  army  into  the  field  com- 
posed of  men  who  were  ready  to  die,  and  so  saved  France. 

Slowly  Danton's  recruits  checked  the  Prussian  advance. 
Finally,  on  September  20,  General  Kellermann  inflicted 
a  defeat  upon  the  Prussians  at  Valmy.  In  view  of  the  lack 
of  provisions  and  the  incessant  rains,  Frederick  William 
now  lost  courage,  and  unexpectedly  gave  the  order  to  retreat. 
A  few  weeks  later  not  a  Prussian  was  left  upon  French  soil. 

This  really  great  achievement  of  the  radical  democrats 
was  unfortunatlely  marred  by  a  succession  of  frightful  crimes. 
To  understand  why  these  were  perpetrated,  we  must  once 
again  picture  to  ourselves  the  state  of  France.  The  country 
was  in  anarchy  ;  the  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men,  reso- 
lute to  save  their  country.  They  were  a  thoroughly  un- 
scrupulous band,  the  Dantons,  the  Marats,  and  their  col- 
leagues, and  since  they  could  not  afford  to  be  disturbed  in 
their  work  of  equipping  armies  by  local  risings  among  the 
supporters  of  the  king,  they  resolved  to  cow  the  constitu- 
tionalists, still  perhaps  a  majority,  by  a  system  of  terror. 
They  haled  to  the  prisons  all  to  whom  the  suspicion  of  being 


The  French  Revolution  291 

devoted  to  the  king  attached,  and  in  the  early  days  of  Sep- 
tember they  emptied  the  crowded  prisons  again  by  a  deUb- 
erate  massacre  of  the  inmates.  An  armed  band  of  assassins, 
regularly  hired  by  the  municipahty,  made  the  round  of  the 
prisons,  and  in  the  course  of  three  days  dispatched  over  - 
two  thousand  helpless  victims.  Not  a  hand  was  raised  to 
stop  the  hideous  proceedings.  Paris,  to  all  appearances, 
looked  on  stupefied. 

The  National  Convention  (^September  21,  I7g2,  to  October 
26,  1795)' 

The  short  interlude  of  government  by  terror  came  to  an  France  is  de- 
end  temporarily,  when  the  National  Convention  met  (Sep-  pubhc.^  ^^' 
tember  21)  and  assumed  control.  The  first  act  of  this 
body  was  to  declare  France  a  republic.  As  the  defeat  of 
the  Prussians  at  Valmy,  which  occurred  about  this  time, 
was  followed  soon  after  by  the  repulse  of  the  Austrians 
from  the  walls  of  Lille,  France  was  freed  from  all  immedi- 
ate danger  from  without.  Thus  the  Convention  could  turn 
its  attention  to  internal  affairs. 

In  the  precarious  condition  in  which  France  then  found  The  Gironde 
herself  everything  depended  upon  the  composition  of  the  tain, 
new  governing  body.  It  was  made  up  of  almost  eight  hun- 
dred members,  all  republicans ;  but  they  were  republicans  of 
'Various  degrees  of  thoroughness.  There  were  the  two  par- 
ties of  the  Gironde  and  the  Mountain,  known  to  us  from 
the  Legislative  Assembly,  and  between  them,  voting  some- 
times with  the  Gironde,  sometimes  with  the  Mountain,  but 
definitely  attached  to  neither,  was  the  Plain.  The  Giron- 
dists dreamed  of  a  new  Utopia,  which  was  to  be  straightway 
realized  by  legislation ;  they  wished  to  end  the  period  of 
murders,  and  thus  wipe  away  the  stains  which  were  begin- 
ning to  attach  to  the  name  of  liberty.  The  Mountainists 
were  men  of  a  more  fierce  and  practical  mood;  they  thought 


292 


Modern  Europe 


Trial  and 
death  of  the 
king. 


The  first  coa- 
lition against 
France. 


primarily  of  saving  France  from  the  foreigners,  and  were 
willing  to  sacrifice  liberty  itself  to  further  that  great  end. 
The  ideal  of  the  former  party  was  the  free  state,  of  the 
latter  the  strong  state.  Naturally  the  two  governmental 
programmes,  which  were  inherently  antagonistic,  began 
to  clash  as  soon  as  the  Convention  was  organized. 

That  the  chasm  between  the  Gironde  and  Mountain  was 
absolutely  unbridgeable  was  exhibited  on  the  Convention's 
taking  up  its  first  important  business,  the  trial  of  the  king. 
Ever  since  August  lo,  the  king  and  his  family  had  been 
confined  in  the  prison  of  the  Temple.  In  December  the 
deposed  monarch  was  summoned  before  the  bar  of  the  Con- 
vention. The  Girondists  were  anxious  to  save  his  life  ;  but 
the  Mountainists,  backed  by  the  threats  of  the  mob,  carried 
the  Convention  with  them.  By  a  vote  of  366  to  355,  the 
citizen  Louis  Capet,  once  Louis  XVL,  was  condemned  to 
death,  and  on  January  21,  1793,  he  was  executed  on 
the  guillotine.  On  that  eventful  day  no  hand  was  raised 
to  save  the  monarch,  who,  however  he  may  have  failed  in 
intelligence  and  energy,  had  always  been  faithfully  devoted 
to  the  interests  of  his  people. 

The  execution  of  the  king  raised  a  storm  of  indignation 
over  Europe,  and  a  great  coalition,  which  every  state  of 
importance  joined,  sprang  to  life  for  the  purpose  of  punish- 
ing the  regicides  of  the  Convention.  Thus  the  war  with 
Austria  and  Prussia  promised  to  assume  immense  proportions 
in  the  coming  year.  The  members  of  the  great  coalition 
planned  to  attack  France  from  every  side,  and  humble  her 
pride  in  one  rapid  campaign.  The  English  were  to  sweep 
down  upon  her  coasts,  the  Spaniards  to  cross  the  Pyrenees 
and  attack  France  from  the  south,  the  Piedmontese  to  pour 
over  the  Alps  at  the  southeast,  and  the  Austrians  and  Prus- 
sians to  operate  in  the  eastern  provinces,  along  the  Rhine. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  question  of  the  defence  of 


The  French  Revolution  293 

the  French  soil  became  again,  as  it  had  been  in  the  summer 
of  1792,  the  supreme  question   of  the  hour.     And  it  was 
plain  that,  in  order  to  meet  her  enemies,  who  were  advanc- 
ing  from   every  point   of  the  compass,  France  would   be   Overthrow  of 
required  to  display  an  almost  superhuman  vigor. 

The  new  crisis  quickly  developed  the  animosities  between 
Gironde  and  Mountain  into  implacable  hatred.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  both  sides  were  equally  patriotic,  but  it 
was  not  now  primarily  a  question  of  patriotism  between 
them,  but  of  the  most  practical  means  for  meeting  the 
threatening  invasions.  The  philosophers  of  the  Gironde 
insisted  on  presenting  moral  scruples,  on  spinning  out  end- 
less debates  ;  and  because  the  case  would  not  wait  upon 
scruple  or  debate,  the  fanatics  of  the  Mountain  resolved  to 
strike  their  rivals  down.  Mobs  were  regularly  organized  by 
Marat  to  invade  the  Convention,  and  howl  at  its  bar  for  the 
heads  of  the  Girondist  leaders.  Finally,  on  June  2,  1793, 
twenty-two  of  them,  among  whom  were  the  brilliant  orators 
Vergniaud,  Isnard,  Brissot,  and  Gensonne,  were  excluded 
from  the  Assembly,  and  committed  to  prison. 

The  fall  of  the  mild-mannered  Girondists  meant  the 
removal  of  the  last  check  upon  the  ferocity  of  the  Moun- 
tain. The  government  now  lay  in  its  hands  to  use  as  it  The  Mountain 
would,  and  the  most  immediate  end  of  government,  the  ^^P'^^"^^- 
Mountain  had  always  maintained,  was  the  salvation  of 
France  from  her  enemies.  To  accomplish  that  great  purpose, 
the  Mountain  now  deliberately  returned  to  the  successful 
system  of  the  summer  of  1792 — the  system  of  terror.  The 
phase  of  the  Revolution,  which  is  historically  famous  as  the 
Reign  of  Terror  (La  Terreur) — it  may  profitably  be  called 
.the  Long  Reign  of  Terror  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  Short  Reign  of  Terror  of  August  and  September,  1792 
— begins  on  June  2,  with  the  expulsion  from  the  Conven- 
tion of  the  moderate  element,  represented  by  the  Gironde. 


294 


Modern  Europe 


The  Commit- 
tee of  Public 
Safety. 


Robespierre. 


Carnot,  the 
great  organ- 
izer. 


The  Reign  of  Terror  {June  2,  lygj,  to  July  27,  1794)- 

The  Short  Reign  of  Terror  of  the  summer  of  1792  was 
marked  by  two  conspicuous  features  :  first,  an  energetic 
defense  of  the  French  soil,  and,  secondly,  a  bloody  repres- 
sion of  the  oppositional  elements  in  Paris.  The  Long 
Reign  of  Terror  reproduces  these  elements  merely  developed 
into  a  system.  What  is  more  likely  to  secure  an  energetic 
defense  than  a  strong  executive?  The  Mountain,  there- 
fore, created  a  committee  of  twelve,  called  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety,  to  which  it  intrusted  an  almost  unlimited 
executive  power.  The  Committee  of  Public  Safety  goes 
back  in  its  origin  to  April,  1793  ;  but  the  very  fact  that  it 
does  not  acquire  its  sovereign  influence  until  after  the  fall  of 
the  Gironde,  proves  how  intimately,  it  was  associated  with 
the  Mountainist  scheme  of  government. 

Of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  the  most  conspicuous 
figure  was  Robespierre.  For  this  reason  the  whole  period 
of  the  Terror  is  sometimes  identified  with  his  name.  But 
Robespierre,  if  most  in  view,  was  by  no  means  the  most 
active  of  the  members  of  the  committee.  He  was  indeed 
the  hero  of  the  mob  and  the  Jacobins,  and  therefore  was 
invaluable  for  the  prestige  of  the  executive;  but  the  men 
of  the  committee  who  organized  the  armies  and  saved 
France  were  Carnot,  Prieur,  and  Lindet. 

During  the  prolonged  internal  convulsions,  Carnot, 
Prieur,  and  Lindet  quietly  and  unostentatiously  did  their 
duty.  They  organized  the  general  levy,  equipped  the 
armies,  appointed  the  generals,  and  mapped  out  the  cam- 
paigns. If  France  was  able  to  confront  the  forces  of  the 
coalition  by  armies,  which  soon  exceeded  the  coalition  in 
numbers,!  and  even  before  the  end  of  1793  checked  the 


'  It  is  usually  said  that  Carnot  mobilized  1,000,000  soldiers.     Even  if 
the  statement  is  an  exaggeration,  it  argues,   in  any  case,  an  immense 


The  French  Revolution  295 

armies  of  combined  Europe  at  all  points,  this  great  feat 
may  be  written  down  primarily  to  Carnot  and  his  two 
associates. 

The  executive  having  been  thus  efficiently  provided  for, 
it  remained  to  systematize  the  repression  of  the  anti-revolu- 
tionary elements.     The  machinery  of  the   Terror,  as  this   The  machin- 

1  „     1  1  .  1        ery  of  the  Ter- 

systematization  may  be  called,  presented,  on   its  comple-   ror. 

tion,  the  following  constituents:  First,  there  was  the  Law 
of  the  Suspects.  By  this  unique  measure  the  authorities 
were  authorized  to  imprison  anyone  soever  who  was 
denounced  to  them  as  ''suspect."^  The  iniquitous  Law 
of  the  Suspects  soon  taxed  the  prisons  to  the  utmost.  To 
empty  them  was  the  function  of  the  second  element  of  the 
terrorist  machinery,  called  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal. 
This  was  a  special  court  of  justice,  created  for  the  purpose 
of  trying  the  suspects  with  security  and  dispatch.  At  first 
the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  adhered  to  certain  legal  forms, 
but  gradually  it  sacrificed  every  consideration  to  the  demand 
of  speed.  The  time  came  when  prisoners  were  haled 
before  this  court  in  companies,  and  condemned  to  death 
with  no  more  ceremony  than  the  reading  of  their  names. 
There  then  remained  for  the  luckless  victims  the  third  and  * 
last  step  in  the  process  of  the  Terror;  they  were  carted 
to  an  open  square,  called  the  Square  of  the  Revolution, 
and  amidst  staring  and  hooting  mobs,  who  congregated  to 
the  spectacle  every  day,  as  to  a  feast,  their  heads  fell 
under  the  stroke  of  the  guillotine. 

Before  the  Terror  had  well  begun,  one  of  its  prime  insti-    Marat  and 
gators,   Marat,  was    overtaken  by  a  merited  fate.     Marat   day. 
was  the  mouth-piece  of  the  utterly  ragged' and  abject  ele- 


1  Almost  incredible  remains  the  definition  of  "suspect  "  furnished  by 
this  law.  It  reads:  "Suspect  are  those  .  .  .  who  speak  mysteri- 
ously of  the  misfortunes  of  the  Republic  ;  who  report  bad  news  with  an 
assumed  air  of  grief ;  who  do  nothing  for  the  cause  of  liberty,"  etc. 


296  Modern  Europe 


ment  of  Paris.  He  had  lately  developed  a  thirst  for  blood, 
that  passes  all  comprehension,  and  associates  him  forever  in 
history  with  such  names  as  Caligula  and  Nero.  And  yet 
this  monster  called  himself  and  was  hailed  as  ''the  friend 
of  the  people."  The  blow  which  finally 4)ut  an  end  to  his 
wild  declamations  was  delivered  from  a  quarter  from 
which  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  he  had  no  more  to 
fear.  Many  of  the  Girondists,  who  owed  their  overthrow 
primarily  to  Marat,  had  succeeded  in  making  their  escape 
to  the  provinces.  At  Caen,  in  Normandy,  the  fugitives 
aroused  the  sympathies  of  a  beautiful  and  noble-minded 
girl,  Charlotte  Corday.  Passionately  afflicted  by  the 
divisions  of  her  country,  which  she  laid  at  Marat's  door, 
she  resolved  by  a  bold  stroke  to  free  France  from  the 
oppressor.  On  July  13,  1793,  she  succeeded  in  forcing  an 
entrance  into  his  house,  and  stabbed  him  in  his  bath.  She 
knew  that  the  act  meant  her  own  death ;  but  her  exalta- 
tion did  not  desert  her  for  a  moment,  and  she  passed  to 
the  guillotine  a  few  days  after  the  deed  with  the  sustained 
calm  of  a  martyr. 
Death  of  Ma-       The  dramatic  incidents  associated  with  so  many  illus- 

rie  Antoinette.    ^  .  .     .  r  ^i.  -  t.  •  i  ^    •     .^• 

October,  1793.  trious  Victims  of  the  1  error  can  receive  only  scant  justice 
here.  In  October,  Marie  Antoinette  was  summoned  be- 
fore the  Revolutionary  Tribunal.  A  number  of  untenable 
charges  were  trumped  up  against  her  by  the  prosecuting 
attorney  ;  she  met  them  with  noble  dignity,  and  on  receiv- 
ing her  death-verdict,  mounted  the  scaffold  with  all  the 
stanchness  befitting  a  daughter  of  the  Caesars.*  A  few 
days  after  Marie  Antoinette,  the  imprisoned  Girondists  to 


>  Marie  Antoinette  left  two  children,  a  princess  of  fifteen  years,  and 
the  dauphin,  T.ouis,  aged  eight.  The  princess  was  released  in  1795,  but 
before  that  mercy  could  be  extended  to  the  boy,  he  had  died  under  the  in- 
human treatment  of  his  jailors.  The  systematic  torturing  to  death  of  the 
poor  dauphin  is  one  of  the  most  hideous  blots  upon  the  Revolution. 
The  dauphin  is  reckoned  by  legitimists  as  Louis  XVII. 


The  French  Revolution  297 

the  number  of  twenty-one  travelled  the  same  road.     The 

next  conspicuous   victims  were   the  duke  of  Orleans  and 

Madame  Roland,  each  hostile  to   the  other,  but  charged 

alike  with  complicity  in  the  Girondist  plots.     The  duke 

of  Orleans,  hea^i  of  the  secondary  branch  of  the  House  of 

Bourbon,  richly  merited  his  sentence.     His  life  had  been 

a  web  of  lies  and   intrigues  ;  to  avenge  himself  on  Louis 

XVI.,  with  whom   he  had   quarrelled,   he  had   coquetted 

with  the  mob,  and  assumed  the  style  of  a  good  Jacobin. 

When  titles  were  condemned,  he  had  taken,  in  order  to  show 

the  thoroughness  of  his  conversion  to  the  republican  faith, 

thenameof  Philip  Egalite  (Equality).     Finally,  in  1792,  he  other  victims. 

was  elected  to  the  Convention,  as  deputy  for  the  city  of 

Paris,  and  there,  amidst  the  execrations  of  the  republicans 

themselves,  he  committed  his  final  act  of  knavery  in  voting 

for  the  death  of  the  king.      A  different  type  of  person  was 

Madame  Roland.^     Her  beautiful,  vague  enthusiasm  for  a 

regenerated  public  life  naturally  drew  her  to  the  Girondist 

party.     For  a  time  her  house  had  been  their  meeting-place  ; 

she  herself,  with  the  emotional  extravagance  characteristic 

of  the  period,  had  been  worshipped  as  their  muse,  as  their 

Egeria.     Her  ideals  were  noble,   and  she  is  reported  to 

have  died  apostrophizing  the  statue  of  Liberty,   erected 

near    the  guillotine,    with    the    words  :    ^'  Liberty,    what 

crimes  are  committed  in  thy  name." 

But  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Terror  The  Terror  in 
was  limited  to  Paris  and  directed  merely  against  prominent   ^^^  provinces 
individuals.     By   means  of   revolutionary    committees,   it 
was  transplanted  to   the  provinces,  and  here,  relieved  of 
the  restraint   exercised  occasionally  at  Paris  by  the  Con- 


»  Madame  Roland  owed  her  influence  in  part  to  her  husband,  who  was 
a  prominent  member  of  the  Gironde  and  a  minister  during  the  last 
months  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  Roland  made  his  escape,  on  the 
proscription  of  the  Gironde,  but  committed  suicide  on  hearmg  of  the 
death  of  his  wife. 


298 


Modern  Europe 


Justified  by 

scattered 

revolts. 


vention,   it  raged   with  a  ferocity  which  degenerated  in 
some  instances  into  pure  blood -madness. 

As  far  as  the  Mountain  troubled  itself  to  give  a  justi- 
fication for  extending  the  system  of  the  Terror  to  the  prov- 
inces, it  founded  its  argument  on  the  necessity  of  main- 
taining the  unity  of  France.  And  that  the  unity  of  France 
was  threatened,  on  the  fall  of  the  Gironde,  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  A  number  of  departments  took  no  pains, 
when  apprized  of  the  overthrow  of  the  moderates,  to  con- 
ceal their  indignation  at  the  Mountain ;  Lyons,  the  second 
city  of  the  realm,  actually  revolted ;  the  port  of  Toulon 
surrendered  to  the  English  ;  and,  worst  of  all,  in  the  west, 
the  Vendee,  where  the  royalist  and  conservative  peasants 
^  had  already  arisen  in  behalf  of  th^  king,  the  insurrection 

became  general,  when  the  usurpation  of  the  Mountain  held 
out  the  prospect  of  the  permanent  rule  of  violence. 
The  govern-  This  difficult  situation  the  Convention,  directed  by  the 

Terror  crushes  Mountain  and  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  met  with 
tions"^""^'^  unflinching  resolution.  It  sent  an  army  against  Lyons, 
and  in  October,  1793,  after  a  brave  resistance,  Lyons  was 
taken.  Then  the  Convention  resolved  to  inflict  an  un- 
heard-of punishment  :  it  ordered  the  destruction  of  a  part  of 
the  city,  and  the  erection  on  the  ruins  of  a  pillar,  with  the 
inscription  :  *'  Lyons  waged  war  with  liberty  ;  Lyons  is  no 
more."  In  December,  1793,  the  French  again  acquired 
Toulon,  chiefly  through  the  skill  of  a  young  artillery 
officer,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  ;  and,  in  the  same  month, 
another  army  scattered  the  insurgents  of  the  Vendee.  In 
order  to  complete  the  work  of  pacification  in  this  part  of 
the  country,  the  Convention  sent  one  Carrier,  with  full 
powers,  to  the  administrative  capital  of  the  northwest, 
Nantes.  The  vengeance  wreaked  by  this  madman  upon 
the  priests  and  peasants  captured  in  the  war  make  the 
practices  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal   at   Paris   seem 


The  French  Revolution  299 

like  child's  play.  Dissatisfied  with  the  slow  process  of  the 
guillotine,  Carrier  invented  new  methods  of  wholesale  execu- 
tion. The  most  ingenious,  the  noyade  (drowning),  con- 
sisted in  loading  an  old  vessel  with  one  hundred,  two  Carrier  at 
hundred,  and  even  eight  hundred  victims — men,  women,  and 
children — floating  it  down  the  Loire,  and  then  scuttling  it 
in  the  middle  of  the  river.  By  measures  like  these,  the 
Terror  managed  to  hold  all  France  in  subjection. 

But  the  rule  of  the  Terror  was,  perforce,  exceptional. 
Sooner   or   later    there    was    bound    to    occur    a    division 

among  its  supporters,  and  when  division  came  the  revolu-   Disruption  of 

^.       .  ^  ,  •      i  I.       i.1  ^1  Terror  inevita- 

tionists  were  sure    to    rage    agamst   each    other,   as    they  ^jg 

had  once  raged  in  common  against  the  aristocrats.  The 
supreme  statesman  of  the  period,  Mirabeau,  had  foreseen 
that  development.  In  a  moment  of  prophetic  insight, 
he  had  declared  that  the  Revolution,  like  Saturn,  would 
end  by  devouring  its  own  offspring. 

The  first  signs  of  the  disintegration  of  the  party  of  the 
Terror  began  to  appear  in  the  autumn  of  1793.  The  most 
radical  wing,  which  owed  its  strength  to  its  hold  on  the 
government  of  the  city  of  Paris,  and  which  followed  the 
lead  of  one  Hebert,  had  turned  its  particular  animosity 
against  the  Catholic  faith.  To  replace  this  ancient  cult, 
despised  as  aristocratic,  there  was  proclaimed  the  religion 
of  Reason  ;  and,  finally,  in  order  to  hurry  the  victory  of 
this  novel  faith,  the  Hebertists  in  the  municipality  decreed 
the  closure  of  all  places  of  Catholic  worship  in  Paris.  As  End  of  the 
this  ultra-revolutionary  step  was  sure  to  alienate  the  aff"ec-  Marchl'1794. 
tions  of  the  confirmed  Catholics,  who  were  still  very  nu- 
merous, Robespierre  took  the  earliest  opportunity  to  de- 
nounce Hebert  and  his  whole  ilk  before  the  Jacobins. 
Finally,  in  March,  1794,  the  last  thread  of  his  patience 
having  snapped,  he  abruptly  ordered  the  whole  atheistic 
band  to  the  guillotine. 


300 


Modern  Europe 


End  of  the 
Dantonists, 
April,  1794. 


Robespierre 
supreme. 


Introduces  the 
religion  of  the 
Supreme  Be- 
ing. 


The  overthrow  of  Hebert  was  followed  by  that  of  Dan- 
ton  and  his  friends,  although  for  an  altogether  different 
reason.  No  man  had  done  more  than  Dan  ton  to  establish 
the  reign  of  the  Mountain.  A  titanic  nature,  with  a  claim 
to  real  statesmanship,  he  had  exercised  a  decisive  influence 
in  more  than  one  great  crisis;  France  had  primarily  him 
to  thank  for  her  rescue  from  the  Prussians  in  the  summer  of 
1792.  But  now  he  was  growing  weary.  The  uninter- 
rupted flow  of  blood  disgusted  him,  and  he  raised  his  voice 
in  behalf  of  mercy.  Mercy,  to  Robespierre  and  his  young 
follower  the  arch-fanatic.  Saint  Just,  was  nothing  less  than 
treason,  and  in  sudden  alarm  at  Danton's  ''moderation," 
they  hurried  him  and  his  friends  to  the  guillotine  (April 
5,  1794).  Thus  Robespierre  was  rid  of  his  last  rival.  No 
wonder  that  it  was  now  whispered  abroad  that  he  was  plan- 
ning to  make  himself  dictator. 

And  between  Robespierre  and  a  dictatorship  there  stood, 
in  the  spring  of  1794,  only  one  thing — his  own  political 
incapacity.  That  he  had  the  Jacobins,  the  municipality 
of  Paris,  the  Convention,  and  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety  in  his  hands  was  proved  by  their  servile  obedience 
to  his  slightest  nod.  On  May  7  he,  the  deist,  who  bor- 
rowed his  faith,  as  he  borrowed  his  politics,  from  the  writ- 
ings of  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  had  the  satisfaction  of 
wresting  from  the  Convention  a  supreme  decree.  Thereby 
the  worship  of  Reason,  advocated  by  the  atheists,  was  over- 
thrown, and  the  Convention  declared  that  the  French 
people  recognized  a  Supreme  Being  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul;  and  on  June  8,  1794,  the  ludicrous  religion  of 
the  Supreme  Being  was  inaugurated  by  a  splendid  festi- 
val, at  which  Robespierre  himself  officiated  as  high  priest. 
Two  days  later,  he  showed  in  what  spirit  he  interpreted 
his  spiritual  function.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  condem- 
nations,  he  had  the   Revolutionary   Tribunal,  by  formal 


The  French  Revolution 


301 


enactment  in  the  Convention,  multiplied,  and  the  pro- 
cedure of  that  body  stripped  of  its  last  vestiges  of  legal 
form.  Now  only  it  was  that  the  executions  in  Paris  began 
in  a  really  wholesale  manner.  During  the  six  weeks  before 
the  adoption  of  the  new  religion,  the  numbers  of  those 
guillotined  in  Paris  amounted  to  577  ;  during  the  first  six 
weeks  after  its  adoption,  the  victims  reached  the  frightful 
figure  of  1,356.  No  government  office,  no  service  ren- 
dered on  the  battle-field  secured  immunity  from  arrest  and 
death.  At  last,  the  Terror  invaded  the  Convention  itself. 
Paralyzed  by  fear  that  body  submitted,  for  a  time,  to  the 
unnatural  situation.  But  when  the  uncertainty  connected 
with  living  perpetually  under  a  threat  of  death  had  be- 
come intolerable,  the  opponents  of  Robespierre  banded 
together  in  order  to  crush  him.  With  his  immense  fol-  Fall  of  Robes- 
lowing  among  the  mob  he  could  doubtless  have  anticipated  Thermidor. 
his  enemies,  but  instead  of  acting,  he  preferred  to  harangue 
and  denounce.  On  the  9th  of  Thermidor  (July  27),^  he 
and  his  adherents  were  condemned  by  the  Convention  and 
executed  the  next  day. 


The  Rule  of  the  Thermidorians  {July  27,  17^4,  to  October 
26,  179s)' 
The  fall  of  Robespierre  naturally  put  an  end  to  the  Ter- 
ror.    The  Terror  had,  after  a  year  of  terrible  ravages,  be- 


1  The  Convention,  guided  by  its  hatred  of  the  royalist  past,  had  intro- 
duced a  new  system  of  time  reckoning.  Since  the  birth  of  the  Republic 
was  regarded  as  more  important  than  the  birth  of  Christ,  September  21, 
1792,  the  day  when  monarchy  was  formally  abolished,  was  voted  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  era.  The  whole  Christian  calendar  was  at  the  same 
time  declared  to  be  tainted  with  aristocracy,  and  a  new  calendar  devised. 
The  chief  feature  of  the  new  revolutionary  calendar  was  the  invention  of 
new  names  for  the  months,  such  as  :  Nivose,  Snow  month  ;  Pluviose, 
Rain  month  ;  Ventose,  Wind  month,  for  the  winter  months.  Germinal, 
Budding  month  ;  Floreal,  Flower  month  ;  Prairial,  Meadow  month,  for 
the  spring  months,  etc. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  Convention  introduced  one  change  which 
has  become  popular.  It  supplanted  the  old  and  complicated  system  of 
weights  and  measures  by  the  metrical  system. 


302 


Modern  Europe 


Return  to  mild 
counsels. 


The  Thermi- 
dorians  de- 
stroy the  in- 
struments of 
the  Terror. 


Progress 
of  the  war. 


come  so  thoroughly  discredited,  even  among  its  own  sup- 
porters, that  the  Convention  would  not  have  dared  to 
continue  the  abominated  system  even  if  it  had  so  desired. 
The  Thermidorians,  many  of  whom  had  been  the  most 
active  promoters  of  the  Terror,  bowed,  therefore,  to  the 
force  of  circumstances.  They  heaped  all  the  blame  for  the 
past  year  on  the  dead  Robespierre,  and  calmly  assumed  the 
character  of  life-long  lovers  of  rule  and  order.  Slowly  the 
bourgeoisie  recovered  its  courage,  and  rallied  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  Thermidorian  party  ;  finally,  a  succession  of 
concerted  blows  swept  the  fragments  of  the  Terror  from  the 
face  of  France.  The  municipality  of  Paris,  the  citadel  of 
the  rioters,  was  dissolved  ;  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  dis- 
persed ;  the  functions  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety 
restricted  ;  and,  to  make  victory  sure,  the  Jacobin  Club, 
the  old  hearth  of  disorder,  was  closed.  During  the  next 
year — the  last  of  its  long  lease  of  power — the  Convention 
ruled  France  in  full  accord  with  the  moderate  opinion  of 
the  majority  of  the  citizens. 

But  if  the  Terror  fell,  its  overthrow  was  due  also  to  the  fact 
that  it  had  accomplished  its  end.  Its  excuse,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  the  danger  of  France,  and  whatever  else  be  said  of 
it,  it  had  really  succeeded  in  defending  France  against  the 
forces  of  a  tremendous  coalition.  On  this  defense  the  reader 
must  now  bestow  a  rapid  glance.  In  the  campaign  of  1793 
the  French  had  valiantly  held  their  own,  although  they  hard- 
ly dared  as  yet  to  do  more  than  stand  on  the  defensive,  but, 
in  1794,  Carnot's  splendid  power  of  organization,  and  his 
gift  for  picking  out  young  talents,  enabled  the  Revolution- 
ary army  to  carry  the  war  into  the  territory  of  the  enemy. 
In  the  course  of  this  year  Jourdan's  army  conquered  Bel- 
gium, and  shortly  after  Pichegru  occupied  Holland.  Bel- 
gium, as  a  part  of  the  Austrian  dominions,  was  quickly 
annexed  to  France,  but  Holland  was  merely  modelled,  after 


The  French  Revolution  303 

the  example  of  France,  into  the  Batavian  Repubhc,  and,  for 
the  present,  confirmed  in  its  independence  (1795).  At 
the  same  time,  the  old  animosities  between  Prussia  and 
Austria  having  broken  out  again,  the  French  were  en- 
abled, in  their  German  campaign,  to  occupy  the  whole  left 
bank  of  the  Rhine.  These  astonishing  victories  prepared  Peace  with 
the  disruption  of  the  coalition,  and  as  the  Thermidorians,  spain.^jgs. 
for  their  part,  had  no  desire  to  continue  the  war  forever, 
they  entered,  on  receiving  information  of  the  favorable  dis- 
position of  Prussia  and  Spain,  into  negotiations  with  these 
governments,  and  in  the  spring  of  1795  concluded  peace 
with  them  at  Basle.  By  these  treaties  the  position  of 
France  was  made  very  much  more  easy;  of  the  great 
powers,  England  and  Austria  alone  were  now  left  in  the  field 
against  her. 

Meanwhile,  the  Convention  had  taken  up  the  long-neg-   Convention 
lected  task  for  which  it  had  been  summoned  :  in  the  course   constilu\1on^^ 
of  the  year  1795  it  completed  a  new  constitution  for  re- 
publican France.   This  constitution  was  all  ready  to  be  pro- 
mulgated when,  in  October,  the  Convention  had  to  meet  one 
more  assault  of  the  Jacobin  element.     Animated  with  blind 
hatred  of  the  parties  of  order,  and  exasperated  by  the  pros- 
pect of  a  constitution  which  would  sweep  mob-rule  out  of 
existence,  the  lower  orders  marched  upon  the  Convention  to 
cow  it  by  violence,  as  they  had  cowed  it  so  often.   But  the 
Convention  had  been,  for  some  time,  filled  with  a  different 
spirit.     It  resolved  to  defend  itself,  and  intrusted  one  of  its   Bonaparte 
members,  Barras,  with  the  task,  but  Barras,  being  no  sol-   Convention^ 
dier,  conferred  the  command  of  the  troops  upon  a  young   October,  1795. 
friend  of  his,  present  in  Paris  by  chance.  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte.    This  young  officer  had  already  creditably  distin- 
guished himself  at  Toulon,  and  wanted  nothing  better  than 
the  opportunity  Barras  off"ered.     When  the  mob  marched 
against   the   Convention  on   October  5,  young  Bonaparte 


304  Modern  Europe 


received  them  with  such  a  volley  of  grape-shot,  that  they 
fled  precipitately,  leaving  hundreds  of  their  comrades  dead 
upon  the  pavement.  It  was  a  new  way  of  treating  the  Pa- 
risian mob,  and  it  had  its  effect.  Henceforth,  in  the  face 
of  such  resolution,  the  mob  lost  taste  for  the  dictation 
which  it  had  exercised  unquestioned  for  six  years.  Thus 
with  the  appearance  on  the  scene  of  Bonaparte  and  his 
soldiers,  the  chapter  of  revolutionary  violences  had  come  to 
an  end. 
The  The  Convention  could  now  perform  its  remaining  busi- 

ofThe  yea?iii.  ^ess  without  fear.  On  October  26  it  dissolved  itself,  and 
the  new  constitution  went  immediately  into  effect.  This 
constitution  is  called  the  Constitution  of  the  year  III.,  from 
the  year  of  the  republican  calendar  in  which  it  was  com- 
pleted. Its  main  provisions  mark  a  return  from  the  loose, 
liberal  notions  of  the  constitution  of  179 1  to  a  more  com- 
pact executive.  Nevertheless,  the  tyranny  of  the  ancien 
regime  was  still  too  near  for  the  dread  of  a  single  executive 
to  have  vanished  utterly.  Therefore,  a  compromise  was 
found  in  an  executive  of  five  members,  called  the  Directory. 
The  legislative  functions  were  intrusted  to  two  houses — a 
further  departure  from  the  constitution  of  1791,  the  single 
legislative  house  of  which  had  proved  a  failure — called  re- 
spectively, the  Council  of  Five  Hundred  and  the  Council 
of  the  Ancients. 

The  Directory  {lyg^-gg). 

The  Directory       The  Directory  wished  to  signalize  its  accession  to  power 
catnp^gn  by  a  brilliant  victory  over  the  remaining  enemies  of  France 

A^^stria.  — England  and  Austria.     But  an  attack  upon  England  was, 

because  of  the  lack  of  a  fleet,  out  of  the  question.  With 
Austria,  the  case  was  different,  and  Austria  the  Directory 
now  resolved  to  strike  with  the  combined  armies  of  France. 
In  accordance  with  this  purpose,  "the  organizer  of  victory," 


The  French  Revolution  305 

Carnot,  who  was  one  of  the  Directors,  worked  out  a  plan 
by  which  the  Austrians  were  to  be  attacked  simultaneously 
in  Germany  and  Italy,  Two  splendid  armies  under  Jourdan 
and  Moreau  were  assigned  to  the  German  task,  which  was 
regarded  as  by  far  the  more  important,  while  the  Italian 
campaign,  undertaken  as  a  mere  diversion,  was  intrusted 
to  a  shabbily  equipped  army  of  30,000  men,  which,  by 
the  influence  of  the  director  Barras,  was  put  under  the 
command  of  the  defender  of  the  Convention,  General  Bo- 
naparte. But  by  the  mere  force  of  his  genius,  Bonaparte 
upset  completely  the  calculations  of  the  Directory,  and 
gave  his  end  of  the  campaign  such  importance  that  he, 
and  not  Jourdan  or  Moreau,  decided  the  war. 

Bonaparte's  task  was  to  beat,  with  his  army,  an  army  of  Bonaparte 
Piedmontese  and  Austrians  twice  as  large.  Because  of  the  ^^  ^'  ^^'^' 
superiority  of  the  combined  forces  of  the  enemy,  he  natu- 
rally resolved  to  meet  the  Piedmontese  and  Austrians 
separately.  Everything  in  this  plan  depended  on  quick- 
ness, and  it  was  now  to  appear  that  quickness  was  Bona- 
parte's great  tactical  merit.  Before  the  snows  had  melted 
from  the  mountains,  he  arrived  unexpectedly  before  the 
gates  of  Turin,  and  wrested  a  peace  from  the  king  of 
Sardinia-Piedmont,  by  the  terms  of  which  this  old  enemy 
of  France  had  to  surrender  Savoy  and  Nice  (May,  1796). 
Then  Bonaparte  turned  against  the  Austrians.  Before  May 
was  over,  he  had  driven  them  out  of  Lombardy.  The 
Pope  and  the  small  princes  in  alarm,  hastened  to  buy 
peace  of  France  by  the  cession  of  territories  and  of  works 
of  art,  while  the  Austrians  tried  again  and  again  to  recover 
their  lost  position.  But  at  Areola  (November,  1796)  and 
Rivoli  (January,  1797),  Bonaparte,  by  his  astonishing  alert- 
ness, beat  signally  the  forces  sent  against  him.  Then  he 
crossed  the  Alps  to  dictate  terms  under  the  walls  of  Vienna. 

This  sudden  move  of  Bonaparte's  determined  the  em- 


3o6 


Modern  Europe 


The  Peace  of 
Campo  For- 
mio,  1797. 


Napoleon 
creates  two 
republics  in 
Italy. 


Bonaparte, 
the  hero  ot 
France. 


Napoleon's 
life. 


peror  Francis  II.  to  sue  for  peace.  Although  his  brother, 
the  archduke  Charles,  had,  at  the  head  of  the  Austrian 
forces  in  Germany,  beaten  Jourdan  and  Moreau  in  the 
campaign  of  1796,  the  emperor  was  not  prepared  to  stand 
a  siege  in  his  capital.  His  offers  were  met  half-way  by 
Bonaparte,  and  out  of  the  negotiations  which  ensued  there 
grew  the  Peace  of  Campo  Formio  (October,  1797).  By 
the  Peace  of  Campo  Formio,  Austria  ceded  her  Belgian 
provinces  to  France,  recognized  the  French  political  crea- 
tions in  Italy,  and  promised  to  use  her  influence  to  get  the 
Empire  to  accept  the  principle  of  the  Rhine  boundary. 
In  return  for  these  concessions,  she  received  from  France 
the  Republic  of  Venice,  which  Napoleon  had  just  occupied. 

The  French  political  creations  in  Italy  which  Austria 
recognized  by  the  Peace  of  Campo  Formio  were  the  per- 
sonal work  of  Napoleon,  having  been  established  by  him 
out  of  the  conquests  of  the  war.  They  were  the  Cisalpine 
Republic,  identical,  in  the  main,  with  the  old  Austrian 
province  of  Lombardy,  and  the  Ligurian  Republic, 
evolved  from  the  old  Republic  of  Genoa.  Both  these  re- 
publics were  modelled  upon  the  Republic  of  France,  and 
were  made  entirely  dependent  upon  their  prototype. 

When  Bonaparte  returned  to  France,  with  the  Peace  of 
Campo  Formio  in  his  hand,  he  was  greeted  as  the  national 
hero,  for  he  had  at  last  given  France  the  peace  which  she 
had  been  so  long  desiring.  And  while  renewing  peaceful 
relations  between  her  and  the  Continent,  he  had  won  for 
her  terms  more  favorable  than  her  greatest  monarch  had 
ever  dreamt  of.  A  man  who  had  in  a  single  campaign 
so  distinguished  himself  and  his  country  naturally  stood, 
from  now  on,  at  the  centre  of  aff"airs. 

That  Napoleon  Bonaparte  should  obtain  a  position  of 
pre-eminence  in  France,  before  he  had  reached  the  age  of 
thirty,  would  never  have  been  prophesied  by  the  friends 


^ 


TJie  French  Revolution  307 

of  his  youth.  He  was  born  at  Ajaccio,  on  the  Island  of 
Corsica,  on  August  15,  1769.  It  so  happened  that,  in  the 
very  year  of  his  birth,  the  island  was  in  the  throes  of  a 
revolution.  The  natives  of  Corsica,  Italians  by  race,  had 
long  been  under  the  power  of  the  Republic  of  Genoa, 
when,  in  the  year  1768,  France  obtained  the  cession  of 
the  island  from  the  Genoese,  who  were  no  longer  able  to 
hold  it.  At  the  time  of  Napoleon's  birth,  therefore,  the 
French  were  occupied  in  establishing  a  military  and  a 
foreign  rule  over  his  native  land.  Amidst  impressions 
associated  with  the  forcible  overthrow  of  his  country's 
freedom,  and  in  the  grasp  of  ideas  of  revenge,  stubbornly 
nourished  by  the  class  of  small  nobles  to  which  he  be- 
longed, the  young  Corsican  grew  up.  The  first  notable 
turn  in  his  fortunes  occurred,  when  still  a  boy  he  was  sent 
to  France  to  be  reared  in  a  military  school.  In  France, 
though  he  continued  to  hate  his  new  country,  he  was, 
owing  to  the  poverty  of  his  family,  forced  to  remain.  In 
due  course  of  time  he  became  a  lieutenant  of  artillery,  and 
it  was  while  he  was  holding  this  commission  among  a  na- 
tion which  he  detested  that  the  French  Revolution  broke 
out,  and  opened  a  free  field  for  all  who  were  possessed  of 
strength  and  talent.  Naturally,  the  great  movement  of 
the  Revolution  affected  the  mind  and  fortunes  of  every 
inhabitant  of  France.  Its  irresistible  current  now  bore  the 
young  Napoleon  along,  until  he  gladly  enough  forgot  his 
narrow  Corsican  patriotism,  and  merged  his  individuality 
with  that  of  his  French  conquerors.  We  noted  his  first 
great  feat  at  Toulon.  The  four  short  years  which  lay  be- 
tween Toulon  and  Campo  Formio  had  carried  him  by  rapid 
stages  to  the  uppermost  round  of  the  ladder  of  success. 

With  the  Continent  at  peace  with  France,  the  Directory   The  improved 
had   cause  to   congratulate   itself.      The   government   had    France"  ° 
made    itself  respected  abroad,    and  at  home  there  was  a 


3o8 


Modern  Europe 


England  at- 
tacked in 
Egypt,  1798. 


Battle  of  Abu- 
kir Bay. 


The  failure  of 
the  Egyptian 
campaign. 


higher  degree  of  order  and  prosperity  than  had  existed  for 
many  years.  An  especial  merit  of  the  Directory  had  been 
the  withdrawal  of  the  worthless  paper-money  (assignats) 
of  the  Revolution,  and  the  return  to  somewhat  sounder 
principles  of  financial  order.  In  the  Directorial  cup  of 
gladness  there  was  only  one  drop  of  bitterness — England 
still  held  out  relentlessly  against  France. 

Therefore,  in  the  year  1798,  the  Directory  planned 
against  England  a  great  action  in  order  to  bring  her  to 
terms.  The  lack  of  a  fleet  put  a  direct  attack  upon  the 
island-kingdom,  now  as  ever,  out  of  the  question.  It  was, 
therefore,  resolved  to  strike  England  indirectly,  by  threat- 
ening her  colonies.  With  due  secrecy  an  expedition  was 
prepared  at  Toulon,  and  Napoleon  given  the  command. 
Nelson,  the  English  admiral,  was,  of  course,  on  the  outlook, 
but  Bonaparte  succeeded  in  evading  his  vigilance,  and  in 
May,  1798,  set  out  for  Egypt.  Egypt  was  a  province  of 
Turkey ;  then,  as  now,  it  was  the  key  to  the  Orient.  Es- 
tablished on  the  Nile,  Bonaparte  could  cut  the  connection 
of  England  with  India  and  the  East.  It  was  for  this  reason 
that  Nelson  immediately  gave  chase  when  he  got  wind  of 
Napoleon's  movements,  and  although  he  arrived  too  late  to 
hinder  the  French  from  landing  near  Alexandria,  he  just 
as  effectually  ruined  the  French  expedition,  by  attacking 
the  French  fleet  on  August  i,  at  Abukir  Bay,  and  de- 
stroying it  utterly.  Bonaparte  might  now  go  on  con- 
quering Egypt  and  all  Africa — he  was  shut  off  from  Europe 
and  as  good  as  imprisoned  with  his  whole  army. 

Thus  the  Egyptian  campaign  was  lost  before  it  had  fairly 
begun.  Napoleon  could  blind  his  soldiers  to  the  fact  but 
he  hardly  blinded  himself.  Of  course  he  did  what  he 
could  to  retrieve  the  disaster  to  his  fleet.  By  his  victory 
over  the  Egyptian  soldiery,  the  Mairjeliikes,  in  the  battle 
of  the  Pyramids  (1798),  he  made  himself  master  of  the 


The  French  Revolut-ion  309 

basin  of  the  Nile.  The  next  year  he  marched  to  Syria. 
The  seaport  of  Acre,  which  he  besieged  in  order  to  estab- 
lish communication  with  France,  repulsed  his  attack ;  the 
plague  decimated  his  brave  troops.  Sick  at  heart  Bona- 
parte returned  to  Egypt,  and  despairing  of  a  change  in  his 
fortunes,  suddenly  resolved  to  desert  his  army.  On  August 
22,  1 7 99, he  contrived  to  run  the  Enghsh  blockade,  and  on 
October  9,  he  landed  with  a  iQ\N  friends  at  Frejus.  Though 
the  army  he  had  deserted  was  irretrievably  lost,^  that  fact 
was  forgotten  amid  the  rejoicings  with  which  the  conquer- 
or of  Italy  was  received  in  France. 

The  enthusiastic  welcome  of  France  which  turned  Bona-    The  Second 

,,.  ^-n-'^  •  11  •  Coalition, 

parte  s  journey  to  Pans  into  a  triumphal  procession  was  1798,  1799. 
due  partially  to  the  unexpected  reverses  which  the  Direc- 
tory had  suffered  during  the  young  general's  absence. 
Bonaparte  was  hardly  known  to  have  been  shut  up  in 
Egypt,  when  Europe,  hopeful  of  shaking  off  the  French  as- 
cendancy, formed  a  new  coalition  against  the  war-like  Re- 
public. Austria  and  Russia,  supported  by  English  money, 
gladly  renewed  the  Continental  war,  and  the  year  1798  was 
marked  by  a  succession  of  victories  which  swept  the 
French  out  of  Italy  and  Germany.  At  the  time  when 
Bonaparte  made  his  appearance  at  Frejus,  an  invasion  of 
France  did  not  seem  out  of  the  question. 

No  wonder  that  the  hopes  of  the  nation  gathered  around  Napoleon,  thi 
the  dashing  military  leader.  What  other  French  general 
had  exhibited  such  genius  as  Bonaparte,  had  won  such 
glory  for  himself  and  France  ?  Moreover,  the  people  were 
tired  to  death  of  the  party  spirit  and  the  continued  uncer- 
tainty threatening  with  ruin  property  and  life.  The  ex- 
ecutive of  the  five  Directors,  unable  to  maintain  even  the 
show  of  harmony,  was  beginning  to  lose  its  grip.    So  evi- 


'The  army  surrendered  to  the  English  a  year  later. 


310  Modern  Europe 


dently  had  disorder  set  in  that  the  royahsts  came  out  of 
their  hiding-places,  and  negotiated  openly  about  the  re- 
turn of  the  legitimate  king.  In  short,  in  October,  1799, 
France  was  in  such  confusion  that  everybody  turned  spon- 
taneously to  Napoleon  as  toward  a  saviour. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  hardly  apprized  of  this  state  of  public 

Directory.         Opinion,  when  he  resolved  to  act.      With  the  aid  of  two 
^799-  Directors,  Sieyes  and  Roger-Ducos,  he  overthrew  the  gov- 

ernment. The  only  resistance  which  he  encountered  was 
from  the  Chamber  of  Five  Hundred,  and  that  body  was 
overcome  by  the  use  of  military  force.  The  ease  with  which 
Bonaparte  executed  the  coup  (V etat  of  November  9,  1799 
(i8th  Brumaire),  proves  that  the  Constitution  of  the  Year 
III.  was  dead  in  spirit,  before  he  destroyed  it  in  fact. 

The  Consulate  {lygg  to  1804). 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  now  free  to  set  up  a  new  constitution,  in 

new  consutu-^  which  an  important  place   would   be  assured  to  himself. 
^^^^'  Rightly  he  divined  that  what  France  needed  and  desired 

was  a  strong  executive,  for  ten  years  of  anarchic  liberty 
had  prepared  the  people  for  the  renewal  of  despotism.  Thus 
the  result  of  Bonaparte's  deliberations  with  his  friends 
was  the  Consular  Constitution,  by  which  the  government 
was  practically  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  one  official, 
called  the  First  Consul.  Of  course,  the  appearances  of 
popular  government  were  preserved.  The  legislative  func- 
tions were  reserved  to  two  bodies,  the  Tribunate  and  the 
Legislative  Body,  but  as  the  former  discussed  bills  without 
voting  upon  them,  and  the  latter  merely  voted  upon  them 
without  discussing  them,  their  power  was  so  divided  that 
they  necessarily  lost  all  influence.  Without  another  coup 
(T  etat  J  by  means  of  a  simple  change  of  title,  the  Consul 
Bonaparte  could,  when  he  saw  fit,  evolve  himself  into  the 
Emperor  Napoleon. 


The  French  Revolution  31 1 

But  for  the  present,  there  was  more  urgent  business  on  Napoleon 
hand.  France  was  at  war  with  the  Second  Coalition  ;  there  itaty!  ^" 
was  work  to  be  done  in  the  field.  The  opportune  with- 
drawal of  Russia,  before  the  beginning  of  the  campaign, 
again  limited  the  enemies  of  France  to  England  and  Aus- 
tria. The  situation  was,  therefore,  analogous  to  that  of 
1796,  and  the  First  Consul  resolved  to  meet  it  by  an  anal- 
ogous plan.  Concentrating  his  attention  upon  Austria,  he 
sent  Moreau  against  her  into  Germany,  while  he  himself 
went  to  meet  her,  as  once  before,  in  Italy.  By  a  dramatic 
march  in  the  early  spring  over  the  Great  St.  Bernard  Pass, 
a  feat  which  only  Hannibal  had  performed  before  him,  he 
was  enabled  to  strike  unexpectedly  across  the  Austrian  line 
of  retreat,  and  to  force  the  enemy  to  make  a  stand.  In  the 
Battle  of  Marengo,  which  followed  (June  14,  1800),  he 
crushed  the  Austrians,  and  recovered  all  Italy  at  a  stroke. 
Again  Francis  II.  had  to  admit  the  invincibility  of  French 
arms.  In  the  Peace  of  Luneville  (1801),  he  reconfirmed  Peace  of  Lune- 
all  the  cessions  made  at  Campo  Formio,  and  as  the  Empire  ^^  ^'  ^  °^* 
became  a  party  to  the  Peace  of  Luneville,  there  was  no  flaw 
this  time  in  the  cession  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  It 
is  this  feature  of  the  Rhine  boundary  which  gives  the  Peace 
of  Luneville  its  importance.  As  the  Peace,  furthermore, 
re-delivered  Italy  into  Bonaparte's  hands,  to  do  with  as  he 
pleased,  he  now  re-established  the  Cisalpine  and  Ligurian 
Republics  in  their  old  dependence  upon  France. 

Again,  as  in  1798,  the  only  member  of  the  coalition  Peace  of 
which  held  out  against  France,  was  England.  How  hum-  ^"^*^"^'  '^°2. 
ble  the  great  sea-power?  Bonaparte's  naval  power  was  as 
inadequate  now  as  ever,  and,  in  no  case,  did  he  have  any  de- 
sire to  renew  the  Egyptian  experiment.  Being  at  the  end 
of  his  resources,  he  opened  negotiations  with  the  cabinet 
at  London,  and  in  March,  1802,  concluded  with  England, 
on  the  basis  of  mutual  restitutions,  the  Peace  of  Amiens. 


312 


Modern  Europe 


France  at 
peace  with  the 
world. 


Bonaparte  un- 
dertakes the 
reconstruction 
of  France. 


Return  of 
prosperity. 


France  was  now,  after  ten  years  of  fighting,  at  peace  with 
the  whole  world.  The  moment  was  auspicious,  but  it  re- 
mained to  be  seen  whether  she  could  accumulate  the 
strength  within,  and  inspire  the  confidence  without,  which 
would  enable  her  to  make  the  year  1802  the  starting-point 
of  a  new  development. 

Certainly  Bonaparte  showed  no  want  of  vigor  in  engag- 
ing in  the  tasks  of  peace.  Nor  was  he  discouraged  by  the 
chaotic  prospect  which  opened  up  before  him.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say,  that  in  consequence  of  the  wholesale  de- 
struction and  careless  experimentation  of  the  last  decade, 
there  was  not,  when  Bonaparte  assumed  power,  a  principle 
nor  an  institution  of  government  which  stood  unimpaired. 
The  work  before  the  First  Consul  during  the  interval  of 
peace  which  followed  the  treaties  of  Luneville  and  Amiens 
was,  therefore,  nothing  less  than  the  reconstruction  of  the 
whole  of  France.  Of  this  situation  Bonaparte  was  well 
aware,  and  he  was  entirely  wilhng  to  shoulder  its  conse- 
quences. In  a  public  proclamation  he  announced  that  the 
disturbances  were  now  over,  and  that  he  considered  it  his 
special  task  to  ''close"  the  Revolution  and  to  ''consoH- 
date  "  its  results. 

Such  being  his  programme,  one  of  his  first  cares  was  to 
restore  business  confidence.  He  completed  the  return  to  a 
sound  currency,  engaged  in  great  public  enterprises,  such 
as  the  building  of  roads  and  public  edifices,  and  showed  an 
intelligent,  though  perhaps  meddling,  interest  in  commerce 
and  industry.  The  mere  return  of  order  did  the  rest ;  and 
France  found  herself,  in  a  surprisingly  short  time,  marching 
toward  an  era  of  prosperity.  Surely  the  country  had  reason 
to  be  satisfied  with  its  "saviour."  Supported  by  the  good 
will  of  the  whole  people,  the  First  Consul  now  undertook 
to  plant  a  number  of  fundamental  institutions,  which,  in 
spite  of  all  the  revolutions  of  the  nineteenth  century,  exist 


The  French  Revolution  313 

to  this  day,  and  are  Bonaparte's  best  title  to  fame.     Let  us 
give  these  institutions  a  briet  consideration. 

The  internal  administration  of  France  had,  under  the  a  new  central- 
late  governments,  fallen  into  complete  anarchy.  The  con-  tration'"' 
stitution  of  1791  had  divided  France  into  eighty-three 
departments,  and  had  supplanted  the  old  centralized  ad- 
ministration of  royal  appointees  by  the  English  system  of 
local  self-government.  Among  a  people  untrained  in  politics 
self-government  is  a  dangerous  experiment ;  in  revolution- 
ary France  it  proved  a  flat  failure.  Reform  of  the  civil 
service  had,  therefore,  become  inevitable,  and  since  Na- 
poleon's advent  to  power  meant  a  return  to  monarchical 
lines,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  government  should  have  re- 
curred to  the  principle  of  the  old  centralized  administra- 
tion. Impelled  by  his  view  of  the  situation,  the  First  Con- 
sul now  invented  a  'system  of  prefects  and  sub-prefects 
who,  appointed  directly  by  the  government,  ruled  the 
eighty-three  departments  like  so  many  *' little  First  Con- 
suls." The  success  of  the  new  creation  was,  from  Napo- 
leon's point  of  view,  complete.  Not  even  Louis  XIV.  had 
held  the  provinces  so  well  in  hand  as  Napoleon  held  them 
by  virtue  of  his  army  of  administrative  nominees. 

Next  Napoleon  gave  back  to  France  her  religion  and  her  Reconciliation 
Church.  The  Revolution  had  consistently  antagonized  church^  1801. 
the  Catholic  Church  ;  it  had  confiscated  its  property,  and 
had  attempted  to  enslave  its  ministers  to  the  state.  Na- 
poleon, although  he  was  personally  without  any  fixed  re- 
ligious views,  knew  that  the  restoration  of  the  Church 
would  not  only  win  him  the  gratitude  of  the  better 
classes,  but  would  also  materially  contribute  to  the  sta- 
bility of  his  government.  Soon  after  his  advent  to  power 
he  opened  negotiations  with  the  Pope  which  ended  in  a 
peace  called  the  Concordat  (180 1).  By  the  terms  of  the 
Concordat,   the   Church,  on  the  one  hand,   resigned   its 


314  Modern  Europe 


claims  to  its  confiscated  possessions,  but  the  state,  in  re- 
turn, assumed  the  maintenance,  on  a  liberal  basis,  of  the 
priests  and  bishops.  Besides,  the  government  reserved  to 
itself  the  nomination  of  these  latter.  Thus  the  Church  was 
re-established,  but  in  very  close  dependence  on  the  state. 
Return  of  jus-  But  Bonaparte's  greatest  creation  was  the  reconstruction 
Napoleon.  of  the  French  courts  and  laws  effected  by  the   Code  Na- 

poleon. The  juridical  confusion  reigning  in  France,  before 
the  Revolution,  is  indescribable;  Roman,  customary,  and 
statutory  law  had  never  been  harmonized,  even  for  a  single 
province;  and  in  neighboring  provinces,  there  were  often 
radically  different  systems  in  force.  The  Revolution  had 
made  an  attempt  to  straighten  out  the  confusion,  but  had 
not  got  far  when  Bonaparte  came  to  power.  With  his 
remarkable  energy  he  soon  had  a  commission  of  expert 
lawyers  at  work  upon  a  new  French  legal  system,  and  be- 
fore long  (1804)  he  was  enabled  to  publish  the  results  of 
their  labors.  By  the  Code  Napoleon,  all  France  received 
a  common  book  of  laws  and  a  common  system  of  justice, 
whereby  the  dispatch  of  law-suits  was  made  rapid,  cheap, 
and  reliable.  No  labor  of  a  similar  degree  of  perfection 
had  been  performed  since  the  great  codifications  of  Ro- 
man law  under  the  Emperor  Justinian. 

If  Bonaparte  had  sincerely  attached  himself  to  the  pol- 
icy of  peace,  heralded  by  the  above  creations,  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  he  would  have  succeeded  in  *'  consolidating  " 
the  results  of  the  Revolution.  But  the  works  of  peace  and 
the  duties  of  a  civil  magistrate  could  not  long  satisfy  his 
boundless  hunger  for  action  and  his  love  of  glory.  An  ir- 
repressible energy  led  him  to  aspire  to  the  splendor  of  a 
conqueror  like  Alexander,  or  to  the  majesty  of  an  emperor 
of  the  sway  of  Augustus.  Slowly,  almost  instinctively,  he 
began  to  break  away  from  his  policy  of  peace,  and  to  spurn 
his  popular  programme  of  "  closing  "  the  Revolution.     In 


The  French  Revolution  315 

1802    he  had  himself  elected  consul  for  life.     The  step   Napoleon 
brought  him  within  view  of  the  throne,  and  in  May,  1804,    Emperor!"^rfe- 
he  dropped  the  last  pretense  of  republicanism,  and  had  member,  1804. 
himself  proclaimed  emperor  of  the  French.     Finally,  in 
December  of  the  same  year,  amidst  ceremonies  recalling 
the  glories  of  Versailles,  he  crowned  himself  and  his  wife 
Josephine  at  the  Church  of  Notre  Dame,  at  Paris. 


The  Empire  {1804  to  iSi^'). 

The  change  of  France,  from  a  republic  to  a  monarchy, 
naturally  affected  the  circle  of  subject-republics  with 
which  she  had  surrounded  herself.  Their  so-called  ^'  free- 
dom ' '  had  been  the  gift  of  France,  and  could  not  log- 
ically stand  when  France  herself  had  surrendered  hers.  At 
a  nod  from  Napoleon,  the  Batavian  Republic  now  changed 
itself  into  the  Kingdom  of  Holland,  and  thankfully  ac- 
cepted Louis  Bonaparte,  Napoleon's  brother,  for  king. 
In  like  manner,  the  Cisalpine  Republic  became  the  King-  Napoleon, 
dom  of  Italy ;  but  in  Italy,  Napoleon  himself  assumed  the  May,°i8o^.  ^' 
power,  and  in  May,  1805,  was  formally  crowned  at  Milan. 
At  the  same  time  the  Ligurian  Republic  suffered  the  lot 
which  Piedmont  had  suffered  some  years  before,  and  was 
incorporated  with  France. 

Even  before  these  momentous  changes,  the  confidence 
with  which  the  European  governments  had  first  greeted 
Napoleon  had  vanished.  Slowly  they  began  to  divine  in 
him  the  insatiable  conqueror,  who  was  only  awaiting  an 
opportunity  to  swallow  them  all.  As  early  as  1803  con-  Renewal  of  the 
tinned  chicaneries  between  him  and  England  had  led  to  a  S."^'^^  ^"^" 
renewal  of  the  war.  Napoleon  now  prepared  a  great  naval 
armament  at  Boulogne,  and  for  a  year,  at  least,  England 
was  agitated  by  the  prospect  of  a  descent  upon  her  coasts  ; 
but  the  lack  of  an  adequate  fleet  made  Napoleon's  project 


3i6  Modern  Europe 


chimerical  from  the  first,  and  in  the  summer  of  1805  he 
unreservedly  gave  it  up. 
The  Third  Co-       He  gave  it  up   because  England  had  succeeded  in  ar- 
ahtion.  ranging  with  Austria  and   Russia  a    new    coalition   (the 

third).  No  sooner  had  Napoleon  got  wind  of  the  state  of 
affairs,  than  he  abandoned  his  quixotic  English  expe- 
dition, and  threw  himself  upon  the  practical  task  of  defeat- 
ing his  continental  enemies.  The  Austrians  were  far  from 
ready,  and  moreover,  their  armies  were  badly  led.  At 
Ulm,  Napoleon  performed  the  clever  feat  of  taking  captive 
the  whole  Austrian  advance-guard  of  25,000  men.  The 
remnant  of  the  Austrians  thereupon  fell  back  upon  Mo- 
ravia to  effect  a  junction  with  the  advancing  Russians. 
Thus  the  road  to  Vienna  was  left  uncovered,  and  Napoleon 
Austerlitz,  entered  the  Austrian  capital  in  triumph.  A  few  days  later 
(December  2,  1805)  he  inflicted  a  decisive  defeat  upon  the 
combined  Austrians  and  Russians  at  Austerlitz.  Again 
Emperor  Francis  II.  (1792-1835)  was  reduced  to  bow 
down  before  the  invincible  Corsican,  and  at  the  Peace  of 
Pressburg  (December  26,  1805)  he  gave  up  Venice,  which 
was  incorporated  with  the  Kingdom  of  Italy,  and  the 
Tyrol,  which  was  incorporated  with  Bavaria.  At  the 
same  time,  the  small  South  German  states,  Bavaria  and 
Wurtemberg,  were  recognized  as  kingdoms. 
Napoleon  ere-  This  last  provision  of  the  Peace  of  Pressburg  made  a  full 
federadon  o""  revelation  of  Napoleon's  German  policy  ;  clearly  he  wished 
*8o6^^'"^'  ^°  increase  the  lesser  states  of  Germany  to  the  point  where 
they  could  neutralize  the  power  of  the  two  great  states,  Aus- 
tria and  Prussia.  For  this  reason  he  lavished  favors  upon 
them,  and  made  them  so  dependent  upon  his  will,  that  they 
could  offer  no  resistance  when  he  proposed  to  them  the 
idea  of  a  new  political  union.  This  union  was  the  Con- 
federation of  the  Rhine,  which  all  the  important  German 
states,  with  the  exception  of  Austria  and  Prussia,  agreed 


The  French  Revolution  31/ 

finally  to  join,  Napoleon  himself  assuming  the  guidance  of 
it,  under  the  name  of  Protector  (1806).  The  Confedera- 
tion of  the  Rhine  was  a  great  step  forward  in  the  realization 
of  Napoleon's  imperial  idea,  which,  it  was  now  plain  to  all, 
was  fixed  upon  the  conquest  of  Europe. 

Naturally  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  effected  a  revo- 
lution in  the  old  German  political  system.  With  southern 
and  western  Germany  acknowledging  allegiance  to  a  new 
union  of  French  origin,  what  room  was  there  for  the  old 
Empire  ?  Having  been  deserted  by  its  supporters,  it  was 
actually  at  an  end.  Therefore,  at  the  news  of  the  new 
Confederation,  the  Emperor  Francis  II.  resolved  to  make  The  end  of  the 
a  legal  end  of  it  as  well,  and  formally  resigned.  Thus  Empire.''"'''" 
perished  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  which  had  stood  in  the 
world  since  the  times  of  the  great  Augustus.  Never  was 
there  an  institution  so  long  in  dying.  Centuries  ago  it  had 
lost  its  efficacy,  and  its  very  venerability  had  become  an 
aggravation  of  its  weakness.  Certainly  no  German  had 
any  cause  to  shed  a  tear  at  the  passing  away  of  such  a 
national  government.  As  for  Francis  II.,  he  consoled 
himself  for  his  loss  by  adopting  the  unhistorical  title  of  em- 
peror of  Austria. 

The  interference  of  Napoleon  in  Germany  brought  about  Relations  of 
next,  the  ruin  of  Prussia.  Ever  since  1795  (Treaty  of  Prussia ^" 
Basle)  Prussia  had  maintained  toward  France  a  friendly 
neutrality,  and  all  the  persuasion  and  threats  of  the  rest  of 
Europe  had  not  induced  her  to  join  the  Second  and  Third 
Coalitions.  The  government  at  Berlin,  utterly  blind  to 
the  great  change  toward  militarism  which  had  taken  place 
in  the  French  policy  with  the  proclamation  of  the  Empire, 
persisted  in  its  amicable  course,  and  even  ventured  to  hope 
for  all  kinds  of  advantages  by  a  close  association  with  France. 
For  a  time,  too,  such  advantages  were  realized  ;  but  as 
soon  as  Napoleon  had  destroyed  the  power  of  Austria,  he 


3i8 


Modern  Europe 


The  elements 
of   Napoleon's 
strategy. 


Overthrow 
ot  Prussia, 
1806. 


ceased  showing  further  care  for  the  elevation  of  Prussia.  On 
the  contrary,  he  now  planned  to  abase  her  power,  and  de- 
liberately inaugurated  toward  Prussia  a  policy  of  provoca- 
tions, which  the  obsequious  government  of  the  peevish  King 
Frederick  William  III.  (i  797-1840),  refused  for  a  long  time 
to  resent.  By  the  autumn  of  1806,  however.  Napoleon's 
acts  had  grown  so  flagrant  that  Prussia,  to  save  the  rem- 
nant of  her  self-respect,  had  to  declare  war. 

Again  Napoleon  had  an  opportunity  to  show  that  the  old 
military  art  of  Europe  could  not  maintain  itself  against  his 
methods.  As  we  examine  these  now,  they  surprise  us  by 
their  mathematical  simplicity.  To  get  ready  earlier,  and  to 
march  more  rapidly  than  the  enemy,  and  then,  having  en- 
countered him,  to  strike  him  at  the  weakest  spot,  with  all 
the  force  that  could  be  summoned — these  principles  must 
have  presented  themselves  to  many  a  general  before  Napo- 
leon. And  history  tells  us  that  these  principles  had  indeed 
been  held,  but  none  the  less  it  remains  a  fact  that  Napo- 
leon's vigorous  application  of  them  was   altogether  new. 

The  campaign  of  1806  brought  Napoleon's  genius  into 
view  as  no  campaign  did  that  had  preceded  it.  But  if 
Napoleon  won,  his  soldiers  shared  the  honors  with  him. 
For  the  Prussian  troops,  recruited  on  the  old  mercenary 
system,  and  pledged  merely  to  the  monarch  who  hired 
them,  were  as  little  the  equals  of  the  great  national  French 
armies,  animated  by  the  ideas  of  country  and  glory,  as  the 
Prussian  commander,  the  ancient  duke  of  Brunswick,  who 
had  been  trained  in  the  antiquated  school  of  Frederick  the 
Great,  was  a  match  for  the  fiery  young  emperor.  On 
October  14,  1806,  old  and  new  Europe  clashed  once  more; 
and  at  the  battles  of  Jena  and  Auerstadt,  fought  on  that 
day,  the  military  monarchy  of  the  great  Frederick  was  over- 
whelmed. With  a  bare  handful  of  troops,  Frederick  Will- 
iam III.  fled  toward  his  province  of  East  Prussia,  in  order 


The  French  Revolution  319 

to  put  himself  under  the  protection  of  Russia,  and  before 
the  month  of  October  had  passed  Napoleon  had  entered 
Berlin  in  triumph. 

All  central  Europe  now  lay  in  Napoleon's  hand.  An-  Campaign 
other  man  would  have  preferred  to  rest  before  continuing  Russia,  1807. 
his  triumphs,  but  Napoleon  felt  unsatisfied  as  long  as  there 
was  someone  who  had  not  bowed  to  him  in  submission. 
In  order  to  humiliate  the  presumptuous  ally  of  Prussia,  the 
Czar  Alexander  (1801-25),  Napoleon  now  set  out  for  Rus- 
sia. But  having  in  June,  1807,  won  the  splendid  victory 
of  Friedland  (East  Prussia),  he  magnanimously  accepted 
Alexander's  overtures  of  peace. 

The  Czar  Alexander  was  a  young  man  with  a  mind  im-  Peace  of  Tilsit, 
aginatively  colored,  and  with  a  heart  open  to  all  generous  humbled, 
impulses.  He  had  long  felt  a  secret  admiration  for  the 
great  Corsican,  and  now,  when  he  met  him  under  romantic 
circumstances,  on  a  raft  moored  in  the  river  Niemen,  he 
fell  completely  under  the  spell  of  his  personality.  The  con- 
sequence of  the  repeated  deliberations  of  the  emperors,  to 
which  Frederick  William  of  Prussia  was  also  admitted,  was 
the  Peace  of  Tilsit  (July,  1807).  By  this  Peace  Russia  was 
restored  without  loss,  but  Prussia  was  thoroughly  humiliated 
and  condemned  to  the  sacrifice  of  half  her  territory.  The 
Prussian  provinces  between  the  Elbe  and  the  Rhine  were 
made  into  a  Kingdom  of  Westphaha  for  Napoleon's  brother 
Jerome,  and  the  Prussian  spoils  of  the  later  PoHsh  Parti- 
tions were  constituted  as  the  Grand-duchy  of  Warsaw,  and 
given  to  the  elector  of  Saxony,  whom  Napoleon  in  pur- 
suance of  his  established  German  policy  created  king. 
Thus  Prussia  was  virtually  reduced  to  a  secondary  state. 

But  the  most  important  feature  of  the  Treaty  of  Tilsit  Alliance 
was,   perhaps,    the  alliance  between   France  and  Russia,    N^^poieon 
which  was,  at  Napoleon's  wish,  developed  from  the  simple  ^^ 
peace.     It  is  a  strange  thing  to  see  two  people  who  have  been 


320 


Modern  Europe 


Napoleon 
at  the  zenith. 


War  against 
England  ; 
the  Con- 
tinental 
System. 


fighting  each  other  suddenly  turn  about  and  swear  eternal 
fi-iendship.  But  the  eloquence  which  Napoleon  displayed 
at  Tilsit  so  fascinated  the  young  Czar  that  he  was  completely 
won  over  to  the  French  emperor's  ideas.  What  these  ideas 
were,  in  the  year  1807,  cannot  be  stated  exactly,  but  it  is 
very  likely  that  they  embraced  a  division  of  Europe  into  an 
Empire  of  the  East  and  an  Empire  of  the  West,  something 
after  the  fashion  of  the  Roman  Empire  of  Diocletian ;  at 
any  rate.  Napoleon  promised  not  to  interfere  with  Alex- 
ander in  the  east  and  exacted,  in  return,  a  free  hand  for  him- 
self in  the  west.  Furthermore,  he  secured  Russia's  help  in 
case  of  the  continuation  of  the  war  with  England. 

The  Peace  of  Tilsit  carried  Napoleon  to  the  zenith  of  his 
career.  He  was  now  emperor  of  the  French  and  king  of 
Italy  ;  he  held  Germany  as  Protector  of  the  Confederation 
of  the  Rhine,  and  Switzerland  as  Mediator  of  the  Helvetic 
Republic ;  and  in  certain  scattered  territories,  which  he  had 
not  cared  to  absorb  immediately,  he  ruled  through  subject- 
kings  of  his  own  family.  His  brother  Louis  had  been 
created  king  of  Holland  ;  his  brother  Joseph,  king  of  Na- 
ples ;  his  brother  Jerome,  king  of  Westphalia ;  but  no  mat- 
ter how  fine  their  titles  were,  they  were,  one  and  all,  the 
vassals  of  the  emperor.  Thus  central  Europe  lay  prostrate 
before  him,  while  in  the  east  Russia  was  his  ally.  To  a  man 
of  Napoleon's  imperiousness  it  was  an  intolerable  indignity 
that  one  nation  still  dared  threaten  him  with  impunity — 
England. 

The  war  with  England,  renewed  in  1803,  had  been 
practically  settled,  when  in  October,  1805 — Napoleon 
being  then  on  his  march  to  Vienna — Nelson  destroyed  the 
allied  French  and  Spanish  fleets  off  Trafalgar.  The  great 
Nelson  perished  in  this  engagement,  at  the  moment  of 
victory.  Since  then  fighting  on  the  seas  had  ceased. 
Though  Napoleon  might  strike  the  inhabitants  of  Vienna 


The  French  Revolution  321 

and  St.  Petersburg  with  fear,  his  power,  being  military  and 
not  naval,  ended  with  the  shore.  In  the  dilemma  in  which 
he  found  himself  he  now  hit  upon  a  curious  device  in  or- 
der to  bring  England  to  terms.  He  resolved  to  ruin  her 
commerce  and  sap  her  strength  by  the  so-called  Continental 
System.  As  early  as  November,  1806,  he  sent  out  from 
Berlin  a  number  of  decrees  enforcing  the  seizure  of  English 
goods,  and  ordering  the  cessation  of  English  traffic  in  all 
French  and  allied  ports ;  and  at  Tilsit  he  had,  with  the  con- 
sent of  Alexander,  declared  the  commercial  breach  with 
England  incumbent  on  all  Europe.  As  England  imme- 
diately responded  with  a  blockade  of  all  the  continental 
ports,  the  conflict  between  England,  dominant  on  the 
seas,  and  Napoleon,  dominant  on  the  Continent,  now 
took  the  form  of  a  vast  struggle  between  the  shore  and 
the  ocean. 

The  Continental  System  may  fairly  be  called  the  begin-   The 
ning  of  Napoleon's  downfall ;  for  it  marks  the  point  where   syslem  "'^^ 
the  great  genius  overreached  himself.    Let  anyone  examine  prepares 

'=>  ^  ■>  Napoleon  s 

the  Continental  System  in  all  its  bearings,  and  he  will  be  downiaU. 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  emperor's  late  astonishing 
successes  on  the  Continent  must  have  impaired  his  sense  of 
the  possible.  With  the  Continental  System  and  what  fol- 
lowed it,  he  tried  to  do  the  impossible,  and  so  undermined 
his  own  throne.  For  by  means  of  the  Continental  System, 
Napoleon  not  only  declared  a  commercial  war  against  Eng- 
land, but  against  Europe  as  well,  and — what  made  this  lat- 
ter phase  of  the  conflict  worse  for  him — he  declared  war  this 
time  not  against  the  European  sovereigns,  whom  he  might 
despise,  but  against  the  peoples,  who  were  in  many  cases 
attached  to  him,  as  to  their  liberator  from  feudal  thraldom, 
and  whom  he  could,  under  no  circumstances,  afford  to 
alienate.  But  alienate  and  incense  them  he  did  when  he 
impoverished  them   by  the  prohibition  of  trade.     Misery 


322 


Modern  Europe 


Napoleon 
occupies  Por- 
tugal. 


Napoleon 
gives  Spain  to 
his  brother 
Joseph,  1808. 


gradually  invaded  the  idle  sea-ports;  factories  and  com- 
mission-houses shut  down.  A  sullen  discontent  spread 
through  Europe,  and  wherever  men  starved,  they  raised 
their  hands  to  heaven  and  invoked  destruction  on  the  man 
who  had  become  the  scourge  of  Europe.  Napoleon's 
successes  had  been,  in  no  small  measure,  due  to  the  sym- 
pathy with  which  the  peoples,  as  distinct  from  their  rulers, 
had  everywhere  received  him,  who  brought  equality  and 
justice  and  the  other  great  blessings  of  the  Revolution ; 
but  what  hope  would  there  be  for  him  in  the  future,  if  he 
turned  the  popular  hatred  of  tyranny,  by  the  aid  of  which 
he  had  conquered,  against  himself?  Thus  the  Continental 
System  inevitably  matured  the  national  revolts  of  the  Euro- 
pean States,  and  the  progressive  national  revolts  were 
bound,  sooner  or  later,  to  shatter  Napoleon's  quixotic  cos- 
mopolitan Empire. 

The  first  protest  against  the  Continental  System  was 
made,  curiously  enough,  by  little  Portugal.  In  order  to 
close  its  ports  against  the  English,  Napoleon  occupied  it 
with  an  army,  November,  1807.  The  resistance  offered 
at  first  was  small,  and  the  royal  family  fled  to  Brazil. 

For  the  same  purpose.  Napoleon  next  occupied  Spain. 
The  relations  between  France  and  the  Spanish  Bourbons  had, 
since  the  peace  of  1795,  been  exceedingly  friendly;  Napo- 
leon and  Charles  IV.  of  Spain  had  even  become  allies, 
and  the  latter  had  exhibited  his  good  faith  by  sacrificing 
his  fleet,  for  Napoleon's  sake,  at  Trafalgar.  Nevertheless, 
Napoleon  now  deliberately  planned  to  deprive  his  friend 
of  his  kingdom.  Taking  advantage  of  a  quarrel  between 
the  king  and  his  son  Ferdinand,  he  invited  the  royal  pair 
to  Bayonne,  to  lay  their  quarrel  before  him,  and  there, 
instead  of  adjudicating  between  them,  he  forced  both  to 
resign  their  rights  to  the  throne  (May,  1808).  Spain  was 
thereupon    given  to  Napoleon's  brother  Joseph,  who,  in 


The  French  Revolution  323 

return,  had  to  hand  over  his  kingdom  of   Naples  to  Napo- 
leon's brother-in-law,  the  great  cavalry  leader  Murat. 

The  unexampled  violation  of  law  and  justice  of  which  The  Spanish 
Napoleon  made  himself  guilty  at  Bayonne  occasioned  a  ^^^^  ^' 
terrible  excitement  among  the  Spaniards.  Spontaneously 
the  various  provinces  of  the  proud  nation  rose  in  revolt 
against  the  foreign  usurper.  Napoleon  had  dreamt  of  a 
peaceful  conquest ;  he  awakened  to  find  a  country  in  conflag- 
ration. But  with  his  usual  courage,  he  took  up  the  gaunt- 
let that  was  thrown  down  to  him.  The  French  troops  had 
beaten  all  the  armies  of  Europe ;  the  degenerate  Spaniards, 
he  argued,  would  go  down  at  a  blow.  And  if  the  Span- 
iards had  met  him  with  a  regular  army,  his  anticipation 
would  no  doubt  have  been  realized.  But  they  met  him 
in  a  guerilla  warfare,  which  consisted  in  darting  from 
secret  ambuscades  upon  detachments  and  rear -guards,  and 
for  such  primitive  tactics  Napoleon's  troops  were  unfitted. 
The  summer  of  1808  brought  him  a  harvest  of  small 
calamities,  and  to  make  things  worse,  England  began, 
gradually,  to  take  a  hand  in  the  Spanish  affairs.  Having 
waited  in  vain  for  Napoleon  to  seek  her  on  the  sea,  she 
found  and  seized  this  opportunity  to  seek  him  on  the  land. 
In  the  summer  of  1808  an  English  army  landed  in  Portu-  England  helps 
gal  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  the  Portuguese  and  Span- 
ish national  revolts.  When  Napoleon,  angered  by  the 
check  received  by  his  political  system,  appeared  in  person 
on  the  scene  (autumn,  1808),  he  had  no  difficulty  in  sweep- 
ing the  Spaniards  into  the  hills  and  the  English  to  their 
ships,  but  he  was  hardly  gone  when  the  Spaniards  again 
ventured  forth  from  their  retreats,  and  the  English  forced 
a  new  landing. 

Napoleon  had  now  to  learn  that  a  resolute  people  can-   Successes  of 

■     T_  1        t-ni        r<         •  1  11  J    •  the    Spaniards 

not  be  conquered,      i  he  Spanish  war  swallowed  immense   ^nd  of  Well- 
sums  and  immense  forces ;  but  Napoleon,  as  stubborn  in  ^"g^on. 


324  Modern  Europe 


his  way  as  the  Spaniards,  would  give  ear  to  no  sugges- 
tion of  concession.  Slowly,  however,  circumstances  told 
against  him.  The  revolts  showed  no  signs  of  abating, 
and  when,  in  1809,  a  capable  general.  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley, 
known  by  his  later  title  of  duke  of  Wellington,  took  com- 
mand of  the  English  forces,  and  foot  by  foot  forced  his  way 
toward  Madrid,  Napoleon's  Spanish  enterprise  became 
hopeless.  Of  course,  that  was  not  immediately  apparent ; 
but  what  did  become  all  too  soon  apparent  was  that  the 
enslaved  states  of  central  Europe  were  taking  the  cue  from 
the  Spaniards,  and  were  preparing,  in  a  similar  manner,  a 
popular  struggle  to  the  knife  with  their  oppressor. 
Failure  of  the         In  the  year  1809,  Austria,  encouraged  by  the  Spanish 

Austrian  re-  •         •      j  ^  r\       r^  ^  .•         i 

volt,  1809.  successes,  was  inspired  to  arouse  the  Germans  to  a  national 

revolt.  But  the  result  proved  that  the  effort  was  premature. 
As  Prussia  was  still  occupied  by  French  troops  and  the 
whole  territory  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  was 
pledged  to  Napoleon's  interests,  only  detached  bodies  of 
Germans  responded  to  Austria's  call.  At  Wagram  (July, 
1809)  Napoleon  laid  Austria  a  fourth  time  at  his  feet.  In 
the  Peace  of  Vienna  which  followed,  she  was  forced  to 
cede  Salzburg  to  Bavaria,  East  Galicia  to  Russia,  and  the 
Ulyrian  provinces  to  France,  and  had  reason  to  consider 
herself  fortunate  for  being  allowed  to  exist  at  all.  It  is 
altogether  probable  that  Napoleon  would  have  made  an 
end  of  Austria,  if  he  had  not  been  forced  at  this  time  to 
provide  for  a  complete  change  of  his  political  system. 

The  fact  was,  the  Czar  Alexander  was  getting  tired  of 
the  arrangements  of  Tilsit.  The  Peace  of  Tilsit  practi- 
cally shut  Russia  off  from  the  west,  and  made  it  incumbent 
upon  the  Czar  to  accept  before-hand  every  alteration  in  that 
part  of  Europe  which  Napoleon  chose  to  dictate.  Then 
the  Continental  System,  to  which  Alexander  had  pledged 
himself,  was  proving  in  Russia,  as  elsewhere,  a  heavy  burdea 


The  French  Revolution  325 

Napoleon  noticed  the  diminishing  heartiness  of  the  Czar,    Napoleon 
and  resolved  to  secure  himself  against  defection  by  allying   ance^whh^"' 
himself  with  Austria.      Austria  was,  after  the  war  of  1809,    Austria, 
in  no  position  to  refuse  the  proffered  friendship,  and  when 
Napoleon  further  demanded,  as  a  pledge  of  good  faith,  the 
hand  of  the  emperor's  daughter  Marie  Louise,  that  request, 
too,  had  to  be  granted.     In  consequence  of  these  changed 
political  plans.  Napoleon  divorced  his  first  wife,  the  amia-    Napoleon 
ble   Josephine    Beauharnais,    and    in    April,    18 10,    cele-   phine!^^    ^^^" 
brated  his  union  with  a  daughter  of  the  ancient  imperial 
line  of  Hapsburg.     When,  in  the  succeeding  year,  there  was 
born   to  him   a  son   and  heir,  ^  he   could   fancy  that  his 
throne  had  finally  acquired  permanence. 

And  surely  never  did  Napoleon's  power  exhibit  a  greater 
outward  splendor,  never  did  his  behests  meet  with  more 
implicit  obedience,  than  in  the  year  181 1.  So  unchal- 
lenged was  his  supremacy  that  he  could  now  proceed  to 
incorporate  the  States  of  the  Church,  Holland,  and  half  of 
northern  Germany  directly  with  France,  in  order  to  se- 
cure the  strict  application  of  the  Continental  System.  The 
only  cloud  in  a  fair  sky  was  the  Spanish  rising,  and  that 
incident,  with  a  little  power  of  illusion,  coMd  be  comfort- 
ably minimized  to  a  military  bagatelle.  As  Napoleon  Napoleon  pre- 
looked  about  enslaved  Europe,  he  could  not  unreasonably  fhTo^y  Russ'ia'!' 
convince  himself  that  now  was  the  time,  or  never,  to  put 
an  end  to  the  last  independent  state  of  the  Continent,  the 
eastern  colossus,  Russia.  He  had  indeed  once  made  a 
friend  of  that  nation,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  an  un- 
hampered activity  in  the  west.  Having  long  since  ob- 
tained from  the  alliance  of  Tilsit  all  that  he  could  hope,  it 
had  now  become  a  burden  to  him  as  well  as  to  Alexander. 


'  Known  as  king  of  Rome  and  styled  by  imperialists,  Napoleon  II. 
He  died  young  (1832),  at  the  court  of  his  grandfather,  the  emperor  of 
Austria. 


326 


Modern  Europe 


The  campaign 
of  1812. 


The  burning 
of  Moscow. 


The  retreat. 


The  breach  between  Napoleon  and  Alexander  became 
definite  in  the  course  of  the  year  181 1.  Both  powers, 
therefore,  eagerly  prepared  for  war ;  and  in  the  spring  of 
181 2,  Napoleon  set  in  movement  toward  Russia  the  great- 
est armament  that  Europe  had  ever  seen.  A  half  million 
of  men,  representing  all  the  nationalities  of  Napoleon's  cos- 
mopolitan Empire,  seemed  more  than  adequate  to  the  task 
of  bringing  the  Czar  under  the  law  of  the  emperor.  And 
the  expedition  was,  at  first,  attended  by  a  series  of  splendid 
successes.  In  September  Napoleon  even  occupied  Moscow, 
the  Russian  capital,  and  there  calmly  waited  to  receive 
Alexander's  submission. 

But  he  had  underrated  the  spirit  of  resistance  which  ani^ 
mated  the  Empire  of  the  Czar.  Here,  as  in  Spain,  a  de- 
termination to  die  rather  than  yield  possessed  every  man, 
woman,  and  child.  Napoleon  was  destined  to  receive,  at 
the  very  culmination  of  a  triumphant  campaign,  a  terri- 
ble witness  of  the  popular  aversion.  He  had  hardly  ar- 
rived in  Moscow  when  the  whole  city  was,  in  accordance 
with  a  carefully  laid  plan  on  the  part  of  the  retreating  Rus- 
sians, set  on  fire  and  burned  to  the  foundations. 

The  burning  •  of  Moscow  meant  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  the  loss  of  the  campaign.  Moscow  gone,  there  was 
not  the  least  chance  of  finding  adequate  winter  quarters  in 
Russia.  What  was  there  left  to  do  ?  Napoleon,  with 
heavy  heart,  had  to  order  the  retreat.  The  rest  of  the 
campaign  can  be  imagined,  but  not  told.  The  frost  of  a 
winter,  unexampled  even  in  that  northern  climate  ;  the 
gnawing  hunger,  which  there  was  nothing  to  appease,  but 
occasional  horseflesh  ;  and,  finally,  the  fierce  bands  of  en- 
veloping Cossacks  racked  that  poor  army,  till  its  disci- 
pline broke  and  its  decimated  battalions  melted  into  a  wild 
heap  of  struggling  fugitives.  Napoleon  was  unable  to 
stand  the  sight  of  the  misery  and  ruin,  and,  on  December 


The  French  Revolution  327 

5,  deserted  the  army,  and  hurried  to  Paris.  In  his  ab- 
sence Marshal  Ney,  who  on  this  retreat  earned  the  title  of 
'^  the  bravest  of  the  brave,"  did  what  human  valor  could 
do  to  save  the  honor  of  France  and  the  wreck  of  her  mili- 
tary power.  Late  in  December  the  remnant  of  the  so- 
called  grand  army  dragged  itself  across  the  Niemen  into 
safety. 

The  loss  of  his  splendid  army  in  Russia  was,  in  any  case, 
a  serious  calamity  for  Napoleon.  But  it  would  become  an 
irremediable  catastrophe  if  it  encouraged  central  Europe  to 
proclaim  against  him  the  national  revolt,  and  created  new 
complications  at  a  juncture  when  he  required  all  his 
strength  to  repair  the  unique  disaster  of  his  life.  Unluck- 
ily for  Napoleon,  patriots  everywhere  felt  this  fact  instinc- 
tively. Here  was  a  moment  of  supreme  importance,  offer-  Europe  pre- 
ing  to  all  the  conquered  peoples  of  Europe  the  alternative  ^^^^^ 
of  now  or  never.  And  at  the  call  of  the  patriots,  they  rose 
against  their  tyrant  and  overthrew  him.  But  the  honor  of 
having  risen  first  belongs  to  Prussia. 

The  Peace  of  Tilsit  had  ground  Prussia  into  the  dust, 
but  it  had  also  prepared  her  redemption.  A  number  of 
sober  and  patriotic  men,  notably  Stein,  Hardenberg,  and 
Scharnhorst,  had,  after  the  overthrow  at  Jena,  gained  the 
upper  hand  in  the  council  of  the  weak  king,  and  had  carried  The  revival  of 
through  a  series  of  reforms,  such  as  the  abolition  of  serf- 
dom and  the  reorganization  of  the  army  on  a  national 
basis,  which,  as  by  some  process  of  magic,  rejuvenated  the 
state.  And  better  even  than  the  new  institutions  was  the 
new  patriotic  spirit,  informing  young  and  old.  When  this 
renovated  nation  heard  of  Napoleon's  ruin  on  the  Russian 
snowfields,  it  was  hardly  to  be  contained  for  joy  and  impa- 
tience. All  classes  were  seized  with  the  conviction  that 
the  great  hour  of  revenge  had  come  ;  no  debate,  no  delay 
on  the  part  of  the  timid  king  was  suffered,,  and  resistlessly 


Prussia. 


328 


Modern  Europe 


Prussia  de- 
clares war, 
1813. 


First  half  of 
the  campaign 
of  1813, 


Second  half 
of  campaign 
of  1813. 


Battle  of  Leip- 
sic. 


swept  along  in  the  rising  tide  of  enthusiasm,  he  was  forced 
to  sign  an  alliance  with  Russia  and  declare  war  (March, 

1813). 

The  disastrous  campaign  of  181 2  would  have  exhausted 
any  other  man  than  Napoleon.  But  he  faced  the  new 
situation  as  undaunted  as  ever.  By  herculean  efforts,  he 
succeeded  in  mustering  a  new  army,  and  in  the  spring  of 
181 3  he  appeared  suddenly  in  the  heart  of  Germany, 
ready  to  punish  the  Prussians  and  the  Russians.  Life  and 
death  depended  on  his  defeating  these  two  powers  before 
the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  and,  above  all,  before 
Austria,  had  fallen  off  from  his  alliance.  At  Liitzen  (May 
2),  and  at  Bautzen  (May  20),  he  maintained  his  ancient 
reputation.  But  clearly  the  day  of  the  Jenas  and  Friedlands 
was  over  :  the  allies  after  their  defeat  fell  back  in  good 
order  upon  Silesia,  and  Napoleon  had  to  confess  that  his 
victories  had  been  paid  for  by  such  heavy  losses  that  to 
win,  at  this  rate,  was  equivalent  to  ruin.  On  June  4  he 
agreed  to  an  armistice  in  order  to  reorganize  his  troops. 

Both  parties  now  became  aware  that  the  issue  of  the 
campaign  depended  upon  Austria;  so  delicately  adjusted 
were  the  scales  between  the  contestants  that  the  side  upon 
which  she  would  throw  her  influence  would  have  to  win. 
In  these  circumstances  Metternich,  Austria's  minister, 
undertook,  at  first,  the  role  of  mediator,  but  when  Napoleon 
indignantly  rejected  the  conditions  for  a  general  peace 
which  Metternich  proposed,  Austria  threw  in  her  lot  with 
the  European  coalition,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1813  there 
followed  a  concerted  forward  movement  on  the  part  of  all 
the  allies :  Prussians,  Russians,  and  Austrians  crowded  in 
upon  Napoleon  from  all  sides.  Having  the  smaller  force 
(160,000  men  against  255,000  of  the  allies),  he  was  grad- 
ually outmanoeuvred,  and  at  the  great  three  days'  battle 
of  LeijDsic  (October   16-18)  crushed  utterly.      With  such 


The  French  Revolution  329 

remnants  as  he  could  hold  together  he  hurried  across  the 
Rhine.  Germany  was  lost  beyond  recovery.  The  ques- 
tion now  was  merely:   would  he  be  able  to  retain  France? 

If  the  allies  had  been  able  to  think  of  Napoleon  in  any 
other  way  than  as  a  conqueror,  it  is  very  probable  that 
they  would  not  have  pursued  their  advantage  beyond  Leip- 
sic.  But  Napoleon,  as  the  peaceful  sovereign  of  a  re- 
stricted France,  was  inconceivable,  and  therefore,  after  a 
moment's  hesitation  on  the  shores  of  the  Rhine,  the  allies 
invaded  the  French  territory  resolved  to  make  an  end  of 
their  enemy.  Still  Napoleon,  always  fearless,  held  out. 
Military  men  regard  his  campaign  of  the  winter  of  1814  Campaign  of 
as  worthy  of  his  best  years ;  but  he  was  now  hopelessly  ^  ^^' 
outnumbered,  and  when,  on  March  31,  the  allies  forced 
the  gates  of  Paris,  even  Napoleon's  confidence  received 
a  shock.  As  he  looked  about  him,  he  saw  the  whole  east 
of  France  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies  of  Leipsic,  while  the 
south  was  as  rapidly  falling  into  the  power  of  Wellington, 
who  having  signally  defeated  the  army  of  Marshal  Soult  in  Napoleon 
Spain,  was  now  pursuing  it  across  the  Pyrenees.  On  April 
6,  18 14,  Napoleon  declared  at  his  castle  of  Fontainebleau 
that  all  was  over,  and  offered  his  abdication.  The  allies 
generously  conceded  him  the  island  of  Elba,  as  a  residence, 
and  then  gave  their  attention  to  the  problem  of  the  future 
of  France.  Not  from  any  enthusiasm  for  the  House  of 
Bourbon,  but  merely  because  there  was  no  other  way  out  of 
the  difficulties,  they  finally  gave  their  sanction  to  the 
accession  to  the  throne  of  Louis  XVIII.,  brother  of  the  last 
king.  As  regards  the  extent  of  the  restored  kingdom,  it 
was  agreed  in  the  Peace  of  Paris  that  France  was  to 
receive  the  boundaries  of  1792. 

This  important  work  being  completed,   a  general  con-   The  Congress 
gress   of  the   powers   assembled  at  Vienna  to  discuss   the 
reconstruction  of  Europe.     The  modern  age  has  not  seen 


330  Modern  Europe 


a  more  brilliant  gathering.  All  the  sovereigns  and  states- 
men who  had  stood  at  the  centre  of  public  attention  dur- 
ing the  last  momentous  years  were,  with  few  exceptions, 
present;  besides  the  monarchs  of  Russia,  Austria,  Prussia, 
Denmark,  Bavaria,  and  Wurtemberg,  whose  presence  was, 
naturally  enough,  largely  ornamental,  there  attended,  in 
behalf  of  the  governments  of  Europe,  such  men  as  the 
Englishmen  Castlereagh  and  Wellington,  the  Frenchman 
Talleyrand,  the  Prussian  Hardenberg,  and  the  Austrian 
Metternich.  But  before  the  Congress  ofVienna  had  ended 
its  labors,  the  military  coalition,  which  the  congress  rep- 
resented, was  once  more  called  upon  to  take  the  field. 
For,  in  March,  1815,  the  news  reached  the  sovereigns  of 
Vienna  that  Napoleon  had  made  his  escape  from  Elba,  and 
had  once  more  landed  in  France. 
Napoleon's  The  resolution  formed  by  Napoleon  in  February,  181 5, 

Elba.  to  try  conclusions  once  more  with  united  Europe  was  the 

resolution  of  despair.  It  was  folly  on  the  part  of  the  allies 
to  expect  that  a  man  like  him,  with  a  burning  need  of  ac- 
tivity, would  ever  content  himself  with  the  httle  island - 
realm  of  Elba,  especially  as  France,  his  willing  prize,  lay 
just  across  the  water.  It  was  equal  folly  on  the  part  of 
Napoleon  to  fancy  that  he  could  thwart  the  will  of  united 
Europe  ;  but  being  the  man  he  was,  there  was  a  moral  cer- 
tainty that,  sooner  or  later,  he  would  make  the  attempt  to 
do  so.  On  March  i  he  landed  unexpectedly  near  Cannes, 
accompanied  by  a  guard  of  eight  hundred  of  his  old  veter- 
ans, who  had  been  permitted  to  attend  him  in  exile,  and 
no  sooner  had  he  displayed  his  banners,  than  his  former 
soldiers  streamed  to  the  standards  to  which  they  were 
attached  with  heart  and  soul  by  innumerable  glorious  mem- 
ories. Marshal  Ney,  who  was  sent  out  by  Louis  XVIII. 
to  take  Napoleon  captive,  broke  into  tears  at  sight  of  his 
old  leader,  and  folded  him  in  his  arms.     There  was  no 


The  French  Revolution  331 

resisting  the  magnetic  power  of  the  name  Napoleon ; 
the  kikewarm  partisans  of  the  restored  king,  who  recruited 
their  forces  largely  from  the  middle  class,  fell  away  from 
the  Bourbon  monarch  with  even  more  than  their  customary 
alacrity,  and  while  Louis  again  fled  across  the  border,  the 
hero  of  the  soldiers  and  the  common  people  entered  Paris 
amidst  the  wildest  acclamations. 

The  Hundred  Days,  as  Napoleon's  restoration  is  called.  The  Hun- 
form  a  mere  after-play  to  the  great  drama  of  the  years  18 12,  an^istoncaT 
1813,  and  1814,  for  there  was  never  for  a  momenta  chance  of  interlude, 
the  emperor's  success.  The  powers  had  hardly  heard  of  the 
great  soldier's  return  when  they  launched  their  excommuni- 
cation against  him,  and  converged  their  columns  from  all 
sides  upon  his  capital.  That  Napoleon  might  under  the  cir- 
cumstances win  an  encounter  or  two  was  undeniable;  but 
that  he  would  be  crushed  in  the  end  was,  from  the  first, 
certain  as  fate.  The  decision  came  in  Belgium.  There 
Wellington  had  gathered  an  English-German  army,  and 
thither  marched  to  his  assistance  Marshal  Bliicher  with  his 
Prussians.  These  enemies,  gathered  against  his  northern 
frontier,  Napoleon  resolved  to  meet  first.  With  his  usual 
swiftness  he  fell  upon  Bliicher  on  June  16  at  Ligny,  before 
this  general  could  unite  with  Wellington,  and  beat  him 
roundly.  Leaving  Marshal  Grouchy  with  30,000  men  to 
pursue  the  Prussians,  he  next  turned,  on  June  18,  against 
Wellington. 

Wellington,  who  had  taken  a  strong  defensive  position  The  battle  of 
near  Waterloo,  resolutely  awaited  the  French  attack.  All  the  j^ne^^s^'isis. 
afternoon  Napoleon  hurled  his  infantry  and  cavalry  against 
the  iron  duke's  positions  ;  he  could  not  dislodge  his  enemy, 
and  when,  toward  evening,  the  Prussians  unexpectedly 
made  their  appearance  on  his  right,  he  was  caught  between 
two  fires,  and  totally  ruined.  Precipitately  he  fled  to  Paris 
and  there  abdicated  a  second  time.     Deserted  by  all  in  his 


332 


Modern  Europe 


Napoleon 
sent  to 
St.  Helena. 


The  Bourbon 
Restoration. 


The  perma- 
nent results 
of  the  French 
Revolution 
in  France  and 
in  Europe. 


misfortunes,  he  now  planned  to  escape  to  America,  but  on 
being  recognized  as  he  was  about  to  embark,  he  was  taken 
prisoner,  and  by  the  verdict  of  the  European  coalition  con- 
veyed, soon  after,  to  the  rocky,  mid-Atlantic  island  of  St. 
Helena.  1 

At  Paris^  meanwhile,  the  allies  were  celebrating  their 
victory  by  again  raising  Louis  XVIII.  to  the  throne  (Sec- 
ond Peace  of  Paris)  on  conditions  somewhat  more  severe 
for  France  than  those  of  the  year  before. 

Thus  the  Revolution  was  over.  It  had  begun  with  an  at- 
tack upon  the  Bourbons  and  it  had  ended  by  restoring  them. 
Had  all  the  enthusiasm,  the  frenzy  of  the  last  twenty-five 
years  been  for  nothing  ?  Certainly  not.  In  the  first  place, 
the  re-established  Bourbon  monarchy  was  not  and  could 
not  be  the  absolute  monarchy  of  1789.  Then  the  French 
Revolution  had  swept  away,  not  only  in  France,  but  in 
Europe  generally,  the  lingering  rubbish  of  feudalism,  and  in 
the  place  of  feudalism  had  set  up  the  basic  principles  of 
democracy.  To  speak  summarily  it  had  destroyed  the 
principle  of  class  privilege  and  established  in  its  stead  the 
l)rincipleof  social  equality;  it  had  proclaimed  the  princi- 
ple of  individual  liberty,  especially  in  matters  of  religion  ; 
finally,  it  had  announced  the  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people.  And  these  principles  have  become,  in  the 
course  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  spite  of  the  opposition 
from  absolutistic  and  feudal  quarters,  the  foundation  of 
modern  life. 


» At  St.  Helena  Napoleon  died  (1821),  after  a  captivity  of  six  years. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  ATTEMPT  TO  GOVERN  EUROPE  IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH 
THE  PRINCIPLES  AND  ARTICLES  OF  THE  CONGRESS  OF 
VIENNA    (1815-30) 

The  battle  of  Waterloo  having  rung  down  the  curtain  on  The  Congres: 
the  great  Napoleonic  drama^  the  plenipotentiaries  at  Vienna  ruled  by 
could,  in  all  peace  of  mind,  bring  their  deliberations  to  a  *^rhfcMes'^^ 
close.  They  were  embodied  in  the  Acts  of  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  and,  than  these,  no  political  treaties  have  ever 
been  more  universally  condemned.  But  there  is  really 
something  to  be  said  for  the  Viennese  treaties.  First, 
let  it  be  remembered  that  the  mere  size  of  the  task  which 
was  presented  to  the  Congress  was  immense.  Then  there 
was  the  conflict  to  adjust  between  the  ancient  territorial 
rights,  which  had  been  impaired  or  destroyed  by  the  rev- 
olutionary wars,  and  the  new  territorial  rights,  which  had, 
in  consequence  of  these  wars,  come  into  being.  Taking 
all  things  into  consideration,  it  was  not  unnatural  that 
governments,  which  had  suffered  so  severely  from  revolu- 
tion as  the  governments  represented  at  Vienna,  should 
have  inclined  toward  a  reactionary  policy.  It  was  not 
found  difficult,  therefore,  for  them  to  agree  that  the 
principle  should  be  adopted  to  restore,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  pre-revolutionary  sovereigns  or  their  heirs,  and  put 
them  in  possession  of  their  old  or  an  equivalent  territory. 
This  dominant  principle  of  the  Congress  received  the  name 
of  'legitimacy,"  and  its  stanchest  champion  became  the 
Austrian  minister,  Prince  Metternich. 

333 


334 


Modern  Europe 


Extravagance 
of  the 
reactionists. 


The  territorial 
reconstruction 
of  the  great 
powers. 


Now  such  a  principle  certainly  has  its  exciise,  but  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  made  the  mistake  of  applj'ing  it 
blindly  and  in  direct  contravention,  in  frequent  cases,  to 
the  rights  of  nationality  and  to  the  popular  demand  of  free 
institutions.  Only  the  mastering  longing  for  rest,  which 
had  come  over  Europe  after  the  unparalleled  agitation  of 
the  last  twenty-five  years,  explains  why  the  very  arbitrary 
arrangements  of  the  Congress  were  accepted  without  pro- 
test. Sooner  or  later,  however,  a  protest  was  sure  to  be 
made.  The  various  peoples  of  Europe  would  remember  the 
national  and  liberal  ideas,  which  had  been  made  common 
property  by  the  Revolution,  and  then  the  narrow,  reac- 
tionary policy  of  the  Congress  would  become  the  subject  of 
criticism  and  attack.  In  fact,  the  substance  of  the  history 
of  the  nineteenth  century  is  the  conflict  between  the  re- 
actionary policy  adopted  by  the  governments  at  the  Con- 
gress of  Vienna  and  the  expanding  national  and  liberal 
ideas  of  the  people  themselves. 

The  Congress  of  Vienna  concerned  itself,  first  of  all, 
with  the  restoration  of  the  great  powers.  The  two  Ger- 
man powers,  Prussia  and  Austria,  acquired  a  territory  as 
extensive  but  not  identical  .with  that  enjoyed  before  the 
era  of  Napoleon.  Though  they  gave  up  their  claims  to 
most  of  their  Polish  provinces,  they  received  ample  com- 
pensation, Austria  in  Italy,  and  Prussia  in  western  Germany. 
The  Polish  provinces  surrendered  by  Austria  and  Prussia 
were  given  to  Czar  Alexander;  who  generously  agreed  to 
unite  them  with  parts  of  his  own  Polish  spoils,  and  form 
them  into  a  npw  kingdom  of  Poland,  with  himself  as  king. 
England  was  rewarded  for  her  share  in  the  victory  over 
Napoleon  by  a  number  of  French  and  Dutch  colonies, 
notably  South  Africa  (the  Cape)  and  Malta.  Thus  each 
one  of  the  great  powers  which  had  contributed  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  Corsican    conqueror  was   not   only   re- 


The  Attempt  to  Govern  Europe  335 

stored  to  its  former  condition,  but  received  a  substantial 
increase.. 

The  Congress  encountered  its  greatest  difficulties  in  ar-  The  "  legit- 
ranging  the  affairs  of  Italy  and  Germany.  As  regards  I-!Sto^red^in^^^ 
Italy,  these  difficulties  were  finally  met  by  the  application,  ^*^^y- 
in  a  loose  way,  to  the  Italian  situation  of  the  principle  of 
legitimacy.  The  kingdom  of  Naples^  (also  called  the 
kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicihes)  was  restored  to  the  ''legit- 
imate ' '  Bourbon  king ;  the  Pope  got  back  the  States  of 
the  Church;  Tuscany  was  returned  to  its  legal  sovereign,  a 
younger  member  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  ;  Piedmont, 
increased  by  the  Republic  of  Genoa,  was  restored  to  the 
king  of  Sardinia ;  and  Lombardy  and  Venice,  far  and 
away  the  richest  provinces  of  Italy,  were  delivered  over 
to  Austria.  There  were  also  established  a  number  of 
smaller  states — for  instance,  Parma,  Modena,  I.ucca — but 
it  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  the  dominant  power  of 
the  peninsula,  on  the  basis  of  these  arrangements,  was 
xA-ustria. 

As  for  Germany,  the  Napoleonic  wars  had  been  a  blessing   Instead  of  uni- 

.  11111  1    ty^  Germany 

in  disguise.  I  o  note  only  one  result :  they  had  destroyed  gets  the  i5«w. 
the  old  impotent  Empire,  and  had  reduced  the  number 
of  sovereign  states  from  over  three  hundred  to  thirty-nine.^ 
Certainly  this  last  revolution  had  vastly  improved  the 
chances  for  a  new  German  unity.  But  the  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  such  a  movement  were  still  too  great  to  be  immedi- 
ately overcome.  From  century-old  habit  the  .thirty-nine 
states  looked  upon  each  other  with  ill-favor,  and  even  if  the 
lesser  ones  could  have  mastered  their  mutual  distrust,  there 


1  Napoleon's  creature,  King  Murat  of  Naples,  tried  to  head  an  insur- 
rection against  the  Bourbon  king,  but  was  caught  and  executed  (1815), 

3  The  thirty-nine  states  may,  for  convenience  sake,  be  divided  into 
three  groups^  i,  large  states,  Austria  and  Prussia  ;  2,  middle  states,  Ba- 
varia, Saxony,  Hanover,  Wurtemberg,  all  raised  to  the  rank  of  king- 
doms by  Napoleon  ;  3,  small  states,  Hesse,  Weimar,  etc. 


336 


Modern  Europe 


The  Holy  Al- 
liance. 


Reaction  in 
Spain  followed 
by  revolution. 


Still  remained  as  a  barrier  to  union  the  ineradicable  jealousy 
between  Austria  and  Prussia.  Under  these  untoward  cir- 
cumstances, the  utmost  concession  of  the  sovereign  states  to 
the  popular  demand  for  unity  was  a  loose  confederation 
called  Bund.  The  constitution  of  the  Bund  provided  for  a 
Diet  at  Frankfurt,  to  which  the  governments  of  the  thirty- 
nine  states  were  invited  to  send  delegates,  but  as  the  con- 
stitution carefully  omitted  giving  those  delegates  any  power, 
the  Diet  could  enact  no  laws  to  speak  of,  and  the  Bund  re- 
mained a  farce. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  point  of  departure  for 
the  deliberations  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna  was  the  hatred 
of  revolution.  This  hatred  developed  into  a  fanatical 
faith,  and  in  order  to  support  better  the  cause  of  quiet  and 
order  against  revolutionary  disturbers,  it  was  agreed  on 
the  part  of  the  more  ardent  of  the  reactionary  powers — 
Russia,  Austria,  and  Prussia — to  form  what  is  known  in 
history  as  the  Holy  Alliance.  The  Holy  Alliance  was  on 
its  face  nothing  more  than  a  pledge  on  the  part  of  Czar 
Alexander,  Emperor  Francis,  and  King  Frederick  Will- 
iam to  rule  in  accordance  with  the  precepts  of  the  Bible, 
but  as  these  precepts  were  understood  to  be  absolutist 
and  reactionary,  the  Holy  Alliance  meant  in  reality  the 
determination  to  fight  revolution  with  united  forces  wher- 
ever it  showed  itself. 

The  first  revolution  to  shake  Europe  out  of  the  unworthy 
stupor,  into  which  she  had  fallen  on  the  overthrow  of  Na- 
poleon, occurred  in  Spain.  The  fall  of  Napoleon  had 
brought  back  to  that  country  the  deposed  Bourbon  mon- 
arch, Ferdinand  VH.  While  his  subjects  had  engaged  in 
his  behalf  in  one  of  the  most  heroic  struggles  of  history^ 
he  had  enjoyed  a  luxurious  captivity  in  southern  France, 
from  which  he  never  once  thought  of  escaping  to  put  him- 
self at  the  head  of  his  people.     This  fact  sufficiently  char- 


The  Att erupt  to  Govern  Europe  337 


acterizes  the  man.  On  his  return  to  Spain  ^  he  thought  only 
of  recovering  all  the  autocratic  rights  of  his  ancestors.  He 
began  his  rule  with  a  perjury.  Although  he  had  sworn  to 
govern  according  to  a  constitution,  once  in  possession  of 
the  country,  he  deliberately  set  aside  the  constitution  which 
the  patriots  had  enacted  during  his  absence,  and  which  is 
always  referred  to  as  the  Constitution  of  181 2,  and -never 
substituted  another  for  it.  Then  he  started  out  on  a  poHcy 
which  involved  the  abolition  of  all  the  Napoleonic  reforms, 
the  restoration  of  the  monasteries,  and  the  persecution  of 
the  patriots.  By  1820  his  government  had  made  itself  so 
intolerable  that  the  liberals  rose  in  revolt.  The  king,  who 
was  a  coward  at  heart,  immediately  bowed  to  the  storm,  and 
restored  the  Constitution  of  181 2.  Before  reactionary 
Europe  had  recovered  from  the  surprise  and  indignation 
caused  by  the  news  from  Spain,  a  revolution  similar  to  that  of 
Spain  shook  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  In  Naples  the  Congress 
of  Vienna  had  restored  another  Bourbon  king,  also  named 
Ferdinand.  This  Bourbon  king  was  perhaps  the  very  worst  Revolution  in 
specimen  of  the  reactionary  monarch  then  to  be  found  in  ^^P**^^-  ^^^o. 
Europe,  and  his  government  was  not  only  oppressive  but 
despicably  impotent.  A  mere  public  demonstration,  grow- 
ing out  of  a  general  merry-making  over  the  victory  of  the 
Spanish  liberals,  sufficed  to  frighten  the  king  into  the  ac- 
ceptance of  a  constitution  similar  to  that  of  Spain. 

In  view  of  these  threatening  movements  in  Spain  and   Mettemich 
in  Naples,  Metternich,  the  Austrian  premier,  called  together   Europe  7o  put 
a  European  Congress,  first  at  Troppau  (1820),  and  later  at   downrevdu- 
Laibach  (182 1).     At  these  conferences  he  put  the  question 
before  the  great  powers,  whether  revolutions  should  be  suf- 

1  Ferdinand  returned  to  a  Spain  shorn  of  her  colonies  in  Mexico  and 
South  America.  During  the  Napoleonic  wars  these  colonies  had  been 
forced  to  govern  themselves,  and  had  taken  such  a  liking  to  indepen- 
dence that  they  refused  to  put  themselves  again  under  the  Spanish  yoke. 
Finally,  in  the  course  of  the  Twenties,  they  declared  themselves  free 
republics. 


33^  Modern  Europe 


fered,  or  whether  Europe  would  not  be  acting  more  wisely 
to  pledge  herself  to  uphold  the  old  order  by  interposing  in 
Spain  and  Naples,  and  by  threatening  to  interpose  wherever 
the  sacred  rights  of  a  legitimate  monarch  were  attacked. 
Backed  by  his  friends  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  he  carried  his 
point  at    these  Congresses ;     Europe   formally  adopted  a 
policy   of  repression  against  revolution,  and  initiated  its 
programme  by  charging  Austria  with  the   restoration    in 
Naples  of  what  Metternich  was  pleased  to  call  "  order." 
Austria  makes        Of  course  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  Neapoli- 
conltitution^of  tans  would  Stand  up  against  Austria.     At  the  approach  of 
Naples.  ^j^g  Austrian   army,  the    liberal  government    immediately 

went  to  pieces,  and  King  Ferdinand  was  restored  as  abso- 
lute monarch.  When  the  Piedmontese  tried  to  raise  an 
insurrection  in  the  Austrian  rear,  this  movement  was  like- 
wise put  down  by'  Austrian  intervention.  Thus  the  whole 
peninsula  fell  practically  into  the  hands  of  Austria  (182 1), 
which  power  from  this  time  forth  drew  upon  it  the  pas- 
sionate hatred  of  the  Italian  patriots. 
France  re-  This  first  success  SO  greatly  delighted  Metternich  and  his 

ism  in  Spain,     reactionary  henchmen  that  they  resolved  to    play  a   still 
^^^3'  bolder  game.     At  a  new  Congress,  held  at  Verona  (1822), 

they  resolved  on  intervention  in  Spain,  and  this  time  com- 
missioned France  with  the  execution  of  their  verdict.  In 
obedience  to  the  orders  of  the  powers,  a  French  army, 
under  the  duke  of  Angouleme,  the  nephew  of  the  king, 
marched  across  the  Pyrenees,  and  overthrew  the  Spanish 
liberals.  As  a  result  King  Ferdinand  was  restored,  and 
celebrated  his  return  to  absolute  power  by  a  series  of  cruel 
executions.  Thus  the  reaction  maintained  its  grip  on 
Europe.  In  the  face  of  its  despotic  repression  of  free 
opinion  and  popular  action,  the  terrorized  i^eoples  began 
to  lose  hope  in  their  future,  and  for  awhile  silently  ac- 
cepted what  they  could  not  change. 


The  Attempt  to  Govern  Europe  339 

While  the  west  was  thus  cowed  and  degraded  by  a  The  Re- 
ridiculous  tutelage,  a  little  country  in  the  far  east  boldly  c^eece^^isli. 
ventured  to  assert  the  inalienable  right  of  every  people  to 
liberty  and  self-government.  This  little  country  was  the 
historic  land  of  Greece.  The  very  name  of  Greece  had 
almost  fallen  into  oblivion  when,  in  182 1,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  old  peninsula  aroused  Europe  to  surprise  and  enthusiasm 
by  rising  concertedly  against  the  power  of  the  Turks,  in 
whose  repulsive  bondage  they  had  lain  for  many  centuries. 
The  Sultan  in  his  rage  at  the  audacity  of  the  little  people 
allowed  himself  to  be  hurried  into  abominable  atrocities 
(20,000  Greeks,  for  instance,  were  murdered  in  the  island 
of  Chios),  but  the  Greeks  resisted  the  Turkish  tyranny 
every  whit  as  bravely  as  theijr  ancestors  had,  at  Marathon 
and  Thermopylae,  held  out  against  the  Persian  invasion, 
and,  though  defeated,  could  not  be  subdued.  In  the  year 
1825  the  Sultan  saw  himself  »educed  to  calling  in  the 
aid  of  his  great  vassal,  Mehemed  Ali,  the  Pasha  of  Egypt. 
Mehemed  Ali  had,  by  favoring  European  reforms,  created 
a  strong  army  and  navy,  and  though  nominally  a  subject 
of  the  Sultan,  was  really  more  powerful  than  his  master. 
Mehemed,  desirous  of  putting  his  suzerain  under  obliga- 
tions to  himself,  willingly  responded  to  the  Sultan's 
appeal ;  he  fitted  out  an  army  under  his  son  Ibrahim, 
which  seized  and  terribly  devastated  the  Morea  (Pelopon- 
nesus). One  year  of  Ibrahim's  warfare  made  it  clear 
that  the  Greek  revolt  would  be  extinguished,  sooner  or 
later,  by  streams  of  blood. 

Up  to  this  point  the  governments  of  Europe  had  taken 
no  part  in  the  struggle,  though  it  was  a  Christian  nation 
which  was  fighting  against  Mohammedans.  The  European 
peoples,  indeed,  had  exhibited  a  sympathy  which  stood  out 
in  noble  contrast  with  the  apathy  of  the  rulers,  and  many 
were  the  volunteers  who,  joining  the  Greek  ranks,  had  sac- 


340 


Modern  Europe 


England, 
France,  and 
Russia  inter- 
fere in  behalf 
of  Greece. 


Russia  forces 
the  Sultan  to 
acknowledge 
the  independ- 
ence of 
Greece,  1829. 


rificed  wealth  and  life  for  the  sacred  soil  of  the  old  Hellenic 
culture,  but  scattered  volunteers^  do  not  decide  great  causes, 
and  the  governments,  as  has  been  said,  remained  cold  and 
indifferent.  However,  the  interference  in  behalf  of  the 
Turks,  on  the  part  of  the  Egyptian,  Mehemed  Ali,  persuaded 
the  powers  that  they  could  no  longer  honorably  stand  aside. 
The  first  to  move  was  the  English  minister,  Canning.  He 
succeeded  in  persuading  Czar  Nicholas,  who  had  succeeded 
Alexander  in  1825,  to  interpose  with  him  in  behalf  of  the 
Greeks.  France  also  lent  her  aid  to  Canning's  project  of 
intervention,  and  when  Ibrahim  on  the  demand  of  the 
western  powers  refused  to  put  an  end  to  hostilities,  the 
united  French  and  English  fleets  attacked  him  at  Navarino, 
and  totally  ruined  his  naval  power  (1827). 

The  Sultan  now  saw  that  he  must  grant  the  Greeks  their 
independence,  but  before  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
humble  himself  in  so  conspicuous  a  manner,  the  Czar  Nich- 
olas, impatient  of  further  delay,  declared  war  against  him 
(1828),  and  invaded  the  Danubian  provinces.  The  next 
year  (1829)  the  Russians  crossed  the  Balkans,  and  de- 
scended upon  Constantinople.  But  before  they  could  take 
that  city,  the  Sultan  had  given  way  completely.  In  the 
Peace  of  Adrianople  (1829)  he  granted  Servia,  Moldavia, 
and  Wallachia,  the  leading  provinces  of  the  Balkan  penin- 
sula. Christian  governors,  and  recognized  the  independence 
of  Greece.  A  conference  of  the  powers  at  London,  held  to 
settle  the  affairs  of  their  protege^  determined  that  Greece 
was  to  be  a  free  monarchy,  and  offered  the  crown  to  prince 
Otto  of  Bavaria.  This  Otto  ruled  as  first  king  of  Greece 
until  the  year  1862.  The  most  notable  fact  of  his  reign  is 
that  in  1843  he  granted  the  country  a  representative  con- 
stitution. 


'  Lord  Byron  (died  at  Missolonghi,  1824)  holds  an  honorable  place  in 
this  European  band. 


The  Attempt  to  Govern  Europe  341 

The  independence  of  Greece  was  the  first  great  victory 
ofhberahsm  in  Europe  since  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  It 
was  destined  to  be  the  prelude  of  a  much  greater  one  in  the 
old  home  of  revolution — France. 

The  battle  of  Waterloo  had  for  the  second  time  brought  The  danger  of 
the  Bourbons  back  to  France.  But  upon  the  second  resto-  restoration  in 
ration,  as  upon  the  first,  wise  men  everywhere  looked  with  ^''^"^e. 
apprehension.  For,  unfortunately,  the  Bourbons  and  the 
emigrant  nobles  returned  with  all  the  old  prejudices  with 
which  they  had  departed  ;  during  their  long  foreign  resi- 
dence they  had,  as  Napoleon  said,  learned  nothing,  and 
forgotten  nothing.  Louis  XVIII.  encountered  no  opposition 
on  his  entry  into  Paris,  but  he  aroused  no  enthusiasm,  either. 
France,  momentarily  exhausted  by  her  tremendous  struggles 
against  Europe,  seemed  to  be  willing  to  submit  to  anything. 
But,  nevertheless,  her  submission  was  deceptive.  To  certain 
benefits  of  the  Revolution  she  was  attached  with  all  her 
heart.  Thus  the  country  was  fervently  devoted  to  the  new 
social  system,  by  which  the  privileged  classes  were  abol- 
ished and  everybody  was  equal  before  the  law.  Would  the 
restored  Bourbons,  who  were  by  force  of  tradition  and 
training  identified  with  the  political  ideas  of  the  ancien 
regime,  be  able  to  govern  a  modernized  France,  reared  in 
the  faith  of  liberty  and  equality? 

The  allied  monarchs  themselves  entertained  grave  doubts  Louis  xvill. 
about  the  wisdom  of  the  Bourbon  restoration.  In  order  constkution. 
to  set  the  king  upon  the  right  path,  they  insisted,  before 
they  would  leave  French  soil,  that  Louis  XVIII.  pledge 
himself  to  a  constitutional  government.  Louis  XVIII. , 
who  was  happily  the  most  sensible  and  moderate  member 
of  the  royalist  party,  very  willingly  acceded,  and  published 
a  constitution  {la  charte),  by  which  he  accepted  the  situa- 
tion created  by  the  Revolution,  and  assured  the  people 
a   share    in    the  government  by  means  of  two  legislative 


34- 


Modern  Europe 


Louis's  liberal 
beginnings. 


His  reaction- 
ary ending. 


Charles  X. 
(1824-30) 
attempts  to 
restore  ab- 
solutism. 


chambers,    the    Chamber  of   Peers   and  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies. 

Being  himself  animated  by  good-will  toward  his  people, 
Louis  XVIII.  persisted  for  a  time  in  a  liberal  policy.  The 
right  of  suffrage,  which  by  the  constitution  was  possessed 
by  those  only  who  owned  a  very  considerable  property, 
was  somewhat  extended  (18 17),  and  certain  burdensome 
restrictions  on  individual  liberty  were  removed.  But  un- 
fortunately Louis  was  old  and  feeble  and  soon  permitted 
the  ultra-royalist  faction  at  the  court  to  gain  the  upper 
hand  in  his  council.  At  the  head  of  this  faction  stood  the 
count  of  Artois,  Louis's  brother  and  heir  to  the  throne. 
For  a  time  Louis  struggled  against  the  ultra-royalists,  but 
when  the  duke  of  Berry,  the  son  of  Artois  and  the  hope  of 
the  royal  House,  was  murdered  by  a  fanatic  (1820),  the 
king  ceased  offering  resistance,  and  the  reactionary  tide  set 
in  definitely.  The  liberal  members  of  the  cabinet  were 
dismissed,  the  suffrage  and  the  freedom  of  the  press  again 
restricted.  France  became  the  vassal  of  Metternich  and 
the  Holy  Alliance,  and,  in  the  year  1823,  accepted  the 
shameful  commission  to  put  down  liberalism  in  Spain  and 
restore  the  absolute  monarchy  of  the  perjured  and  vicious 
Ferdinand  VII. 

When  Louis  XVIII.  was  succeeded  on  his  death  (1824) 
by  his  brother  Charles  X. ,  things  rapidly  went  from  bad  to 
worse.  Charles  X. ,  as  count  of  Artois,  had  been  the  head 
of  the  noble  emigres,  and  was  as  much  detested  by  the 
people  as>  he  was  idolized  by  the  feudal  party.  The  reign  of 
reaction  was  now  unchecked.  Among  other  measures,  one 
billion  francs  were  voted  to  the  nobles  to  indemnify  them 
for  their  losses  during  the  revolution.  Finally,  it  was  planned 
to  muzzle  the  press  and  gag  the  universities.  But  at  this 
point  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  refused  to  serve  the  reaction 
further,  and  had  to  be  dissolved  (1830).     Thereupon  the 


The  Attempt,  to  Govern  Europe  343 


prime  minister,  the  unpopular  duke  of  Polignac,  urged  the 
king  to  take  by  decree  what  he  could  not  get  by  law,  and  on 
July  26,  18^0,  there  appeared  under  the  king's  seal  four  The  July 
ordinances,  which  arbitrarily  limited  the  Hst  of  voters,  and  ^'■'^^"^n'^es. 
put  an  end  to  the  freedom  of  printing.  The  ordinances 
substantially  meant  the  abandonment  by  the  king  of  legal 
courses,  the  revocation  of  the  constitution,  and  the  return 
to  absolutism.  Did  France  have  no  answer  to  so  mon- 
strous an  attempt? 


CHAPTER   III 

THE   REVOLUTION    OF     1830    IN    FRANCE     AND     ELSEWHERE 

The  July  rev-       The  four  ordinances  of  July  26  caused  an  immediate 
Paris.  tumult  in  the  capital.      Bands  of  students  and   workmen 

paraded  the  streets  cheering  the  constitution.  But  their 
cheers  changed  soon  to  the  more  ominous  cries  :  down 
with  ministers !  down  with  the  Bourbons  !  The  king 
was  amusing  himself  at  the  time  at  St.  Cloud,  and  did  not 
raise  a  hand  in  his  defence.  The  few  troops  in  the  city 
soon  proved  themselves  inadequate  to  restrain  the  multitude, 
and  after  a  number  of  sharp  encounters,  in  which  many 
citizens  were  killed,  withdrew  into  the  country.  For  a 
moment  it  seemed  that  the  capital  was  delivered  over  to 
anarchy. 
The  moder-  In  this  confusion  a  number  of  prominent  members  of 

cites  offer  tlie 

crown  to  Louis   the  middle-class  or  bourgeoisie  met  at   the  house  of  the 
Phihppe.  banker  Lafitte  to  discuss   what   was    to  be    done.     They 

were  men  equally  averse  to  tyranny  and  to  disorder ;  all 
that  France  needed  and  desired  according  to  them  was 
a  genuinely  constitutional  monarchy.  They  therefore  re- 
solved to  concur  in  the  deposition  of  Charles  X.  and  his 
heirs,  and  offer  the  crown  to  the  popular  head  of  the  sec- 
ondary branch  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  Louis  Philippe, 
duke  of  Orleans.  Louis  Philippe  was  the  son  of  that  dis- 
reputable duke  of  Orleans  (Egalit6)  who  had  voted  for 
the  death  of  Louis  XVI.,  and  had  been  guillotined  by  the 
Terror.  As  a  young  man  he  had  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary army,  and  though  he  had  abandoned   France  in  1793, 

344 


The  Revolution  of  i8jo  in  France 


345 


and  little  had  been  heard  of  him  since,  he  was  reputed  to 
be  a  man  of  firm,  liberal  principles.  When  the  self-con- 
stituted committee  of  the  Parisian  moderates  waited  upon 
him  to  tender  him  the  crown,  he  at  first  feigned  reluctance, 
but  was  finally  persuaded  to  accept  the  governorship  of 
the  realm  until  such  time  as  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  rep- 
resenting the  country,,  had  come  to  a  decision. 

Charles  X.  was  all  this  time  off  at  his  palace  of  St. 
Cloud,  lulled  by  all  sorts  of  fond  illusions.  He  inchned 
from  the  first  to  treat  the  Parisian  rising  as  a  trifle,  and  was 
not  aroused  to  its  significance  until  his  troops  were  driven 
out  of  Paris.  Then  he  hurriedly  cancelled  the  obnoxious 
ordinances,  and  in  order  to  save  his  House  even  tendered 
his  own  abdication  in  favor  of  his  grandson.  But  these  con- 
cessions came  too  late  ;  his  ambassadors  were  not  so  much 
as  heard  in  Paris,  and  reluctantly  Charles  X.  turned  his 
back  for  the  third  and  last  time  upon  France  to  seek  refuge 
across  the  Channel. 

When  the  Chambers  assembled  at  the  beginning  of  Au- 
gust, they  immediately  declared  the  throne  vacant,  and 
offered  the  crown  to  Louis  Philippe.  He  had  already  ap- 
peared in  the  city  some  days  before,  and  had,  after  publicly 
assuming  the  tricolor,  the  emblem  of  the  Revolution,  under- 
taken the  government  temporarily  as  lieutenant-governor. 
Now  he  hesitated  no  longer  to  take  the  final  step ;  at  the 
solicitation  of  the  Chambers,  he  solemnly  swore  to  observe 
the  constitution,  and  adopted  the  style  of  Louis  Philippe, 
King  of  the  French.  Thus  France  had  inaugurated  a  new 
experiment  in  government  which  is  named  from  the  Orlean- 
ist  dynasty,  now  promoted  to  the  control  of  affairs. 

Meanwhile  the  report  of  the  July  Revolution  in  Paris 
had  travelled  abroad.  Ever  since  the  seventeenth  century 
France  had  assumed  in  Europe  the  leadership  in  political 
ideas.     Every  action  upon  her  public  stage  was  watched 


The  flight  of 
Charles  X. 


Louis  Philippe 
becomes  King 
of  the  French. 


The  July  rev- 
olution awak- 
ens an  echo  in 
Europe. 


346 


Modern  Europe 


The  revolution 
in  Belgium. 


Antagonism 
between  Hol- 
land and  Bel- 
gium. 


by  her  neighbors  with  eager  interest.  Therefore  the  fall  of 
the  Bourbons  and  the  victory  of  the  people  sent  a  flutter  of 
eager  hope  through  the  nations  which  had  been  injured  and 
shackled  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  Evidently  the  time 
had  at  last  come  to  venture  a  blow,  and  in  the  course  of 
the  year  1830  country  after  country,  imitating  the  example 
set  by  the  Parisians,  raised  its  voice  in  behalf  of  freedom 
and  self-government. 

The  most  immediate  stir  was  caused  among  the  north- 
eastern neighbors  of  France,  the  Belgians.  And  perhaps 
no  people  had  suffered  more  than  the  Belgians  from  the 
high-handed  methods  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  With- 
out even  the  pretense  of  consulting  the  wishes  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  country  of  Belgium,  once  known  as  the  Spanish 
and  then  as  the  Austrian  Netherlands,  and  from  1794  to 
1815  an  integral  part  of  France,  had,  at  Vienna,  been  in- 
corporated with  Holland.  The  idea  of  the  Congress  was 
to  create  a  state  to  the  northeast  of  France  strong  enough 
to  resist  a  renewal  of  French  aggression.  The  kingdom  of 
the  Netherlands,  as  the  fused  states  of  Holland  and  Bel- 
gium were  called,  was  given  to  the  ancient  Dutch  House 
of  Orange,  and  was  expected  to  keep  a  close  eye,  in  behalf 
of  the  European  peace,  on  the  old  disturber  of  that  peace — 
France. 

This  idea,  taken  by  itself,  was  so  good  that  it  is  perhaps 
pardonable  that  the  Congress  overlooked  a  great  number 
of  insurmountable  details.  Holland  and  Belgium  had  been 
for  centuries  travelling  their  own  roads,  and  had  developed 
each  its  own  set  of  material  and  intellectual  interests. 
Thus  while  Holland  was  a  great  colonizing  and  commercial 
country,  Belgium  was  primarily  an  industrial  country; 
further,  Holland  was  Protestant,  Belgium  was  Catholic ; 
and,  most  incisive  of  all  differences,  Holland  was  Teutonic, 
and  Belgium,  though  it  was  by  blood  and  si^eech  of  mixed 


The  Revolution  of  i8jo  in  France  347 

Teutonic  and  French  character,  was  by  civilization  and  feel- 
ing entirely  French. 

The  union  therefore  caused  discomfort  to  the  Belgians  The  breach, 
from  the  first.  They  protested  against  the  over-lordship  ^^  ^ ' 
which  Holland,  the  smaller  partner,  was  exercising,  and 
finally  demanded  a  separate  administration.  When  King 
William  resisted  these  claims  they  resolved,  in  August,  1830, 
to  imitate  the  Parisians,  and  accordingly  revolted.  There 
followed  a  month  of  juggling  and  negotiations,  but  in  Sep- 
tember the  Dutch  army  clashed  with  the  populace  of  Brus- 
sels, and  after  a  warm  encounter  was  forced  to  evacuate  the 
city.  Now  that  blood  had  flowed  and  animal  passions  had 
been  excited,  an  amicable  adjustment  became  impossible. 
Too  late  King  William  offered  to  accede  to  the  Belgian  de- 
mands.    When  his  offer  was  rejected,  he  prepared  for  war. 

At  this  point,  the  European  powers  became  alarmed,  and 
at  a  conference  held  at  London  resolved  to  interfere.  Al- 
though the  eastern  powers  would  gladly  have  supported 
the  House  of  Orange,  they  had  troubles  of  their  own  to  at- 
tend to,  and  so  reluctantly  acceded  to  the  proposition  ot 
France  and  England  to  grant  the  Belgians  independence.  Belgium  made 
This  matter  having  been  settled  without  much  difficulty,  the  ent  kingdom. 
powers  next  approved  of  a  Belgian  congress  to  take  into  its 
hands  the  internal  aff'airs  of  the  country.  When  this  con- 
gress met  (November,  1830),  it  declared  in  principle  for  a 
limited  monarchy,  and  then  set  about  constructing  an  ap- 
propriate constitution.  When  all  was  done,  it  offered  the 
crown  to  Prince  Leopold,  of  the  German  House  of  Saxe- 
Coburg,  and  Leopold  actually  assumed  the  government  in 
1 83 1,  with  the  title  of  king  of  the  Belgians.  King  William 
of  Holland,  jealous  of  his  rights,  and  chagrined  at  the  action 
of  the  powers,  made  ready  to  resist  the  Belgian  independ- 
ence by  arms,  but  a  combined  naval  and  military  demonstra- 
tion by  England  and  France  at  his  borders  brought  him  to 


348 


Modern  Europe 


Germany  and 
Italy. 


In  Germany 
the  small 
states  become 
constitutional. 


his  senses,  and  in  July,  1833,  he  finally  bowed  to  the  inevi- 
table. Holland  and  Belgium  have  ever  since  gone  their  own 
way  under  separate  kings.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  King  Leo- 
pold (1831-65)  that,  although  a  foreigner,  he  should  have 
made  himself  entirely  acceptable  to  his  new  people,  and  that 
under  his  wise  rule  Belgium  prospered  as  she  had  not  pros- 
pered since  the  evil  day,  when  she  fell  into  the  clutches  of 
Spain. 

As  the  two  great  central  European  countries,  Germany 
and  Italy,  had  received  very  ungenerous  treatment  at  the 
Congress  of  Vienna,  it  might  be  expected  that  the  July 
revolution  would  create  a  widely  sympathetic  movement 
among  them.  But  although  they  enjoyed  neither  national 
unity  nor  freedom,  and  had  every  cause  for  discontent, 
their  revolutions  of  1830  were,  for  different  reasons,  most 
insignificant  affairs. 

In  Germany  every  important  development  hinged, 
naturally,  upon  the  action  of  the  two  great  states,  Prussia 
and  Austria.  But  owing  partly  to  the  ancient  habit  of 
obedience,  and  partly  to  the  rather  effective  administra- 
tion of  the  government,  the  people  of  these  two  states  did 
not,  in  1830,  stir  against  their  reactionary  monarchs. 
However,  in  a  great  many  of  the  smaller  states,  like  Bruns- 
wick, Hanover,  and  Saxony,  the  cry  was  raised  for  a  liberal 
constitution,  and  in  each  instance  the  princes  had  to  give 
way,  and  establish  a  modern  representative  government. 
As  the  south  German  states,  the  most  notable  of  which 
were  Bavaria,  Wurtemberg,  and  Baden,  had,  by  the  free 
act  of  their  sovereigns,  been  granted  liberal  constitutions 
soon  after  181 5,  the  result  of  the  commotions  of  1830  for 
Germany  may  be  summed  up  thus :  With  that  year  practi- 
cally all  the  smaller  German  states  had  declared  for  sensible 
constitutional  progress,  Austria  and  Prussia,  the  natural 
leaders,  alone  persisting  in  the  antiquated  absolute  system. 


The  Revolution  of  i8jo  in  France  349 

Of  course  it  was  clear  as  day  that  before  long  the  people  of 
Austria  and  Prussia  would  be  affected  by  the  same  aspira- 
tions which  had  been  manifested  among  their  smaller 
neighbors. 

The  limited  energy  which  the  revolution  of  1830  mani-  The     revolu- 
fested  in  Germany  spent  itself,  as  the  results  witness,  on   not  a  national 
the  demand  for  popular  local  governments.     The  revolu-   "movement, 
tion  made  no  atttempt  to  remedy  the  other  great  difficulty 
of  Germany,  her  national  disintegration.     The  Diet  of  the 
Bufid  representing  the  princes  and  not  the  people,  was  left 
untouched  by  the  revolution  of  1830,  and  went  on  sitting 
at  Frankfurt,  as  feeble  and  despised  as  ever.     Some  years 
evidently  would  have  to  pass  before  patient  Germany  had 
gathered  the  further  energy  to  protest  against  this  farce  of  a 
national  government. 

If  in  Italy  there  was  aroused  no  great  commotion  by  the  The  Italian 
July  revolution,  it  was  due  to  the  lingering  memories  of  the  1830  of  no 
unfortunate  Neapolitan  insurrection  ten  years  before  (1820),  consequence, 
and  of  the  armed  intervention  of  Austria  which  had  fol- 
lowed. Ever  since,  Metternich  was  keeping  a  close  watch 
upon  the  peninsula,  and  holding  himself  ready  to  fall  at  a 
moment's  notice  from  his  vantage-point  of  Lombardy  upon 
any  disturber  of  the  peace.  The  great  secret  society  of  the 
carbonari,  which  tried  to  bind  together  the  patriotic  Ital- 
ians of  all  parts  of  the  peninsula  for  the  purpose  of  a  con- 
certed action  in  behalf  of  an  independent  and  liberal  Italy, 
agitated,  therefore,  in  vain.  Only  in  isolated  regions,  notably 
in  the  States  of  the  Church,  the  people  rose  in  1830  against 
their  governors.  But  the  Austrians,  just  as  in  182 1,  imme- 
diately, on  receipt  of  the  news,  invaded  the  disturbed  ter- 
ritories, scattered  the  insurgents,  and  established  the  old 
tyrannies.  The  total  result  for  Italy  of  the  revolution  of 
1830  was  an  increased  hatred  of  the  Austrian  master  and 
meddler. 


3 so  Modern  Europe 


Poland  These  agitations  of  Germany  and  Italy  were  mere  trifles 

in  I  30.  compared  to  the  great  insurrection  which,  in  consequence 

of  the  Parisian  revolution,  took  place  in  Poland.  The  reader 
will  remember  that  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna  Poland  was 
partially  restored.  Prussia  and  Austria  having  surrendered 
for  an  adequate  compensation  certain  of  their  Polish  spoils 
to  Russia,  the  Czar  Alexander,  who  was  a  man  of  extremely 
generous  disposition  and  full  of  kindly  feeling  toward  the 
unfortunate  Poles,  seized  the  opportunity  afforded  by  this 
acquisition  to  re-establish,  with  somewhat  restricted  bound- 
aries, the  old  kingdom  of  Poland.  Although  a  despot  in 
Russia,  he  gave  the  kingdom  of  Poland  a  constitution,  and 
promised  to  rule  there  as  a  constitutional  king.  Under  him 
Poland  had  a  separate  administration  and  its  own  army. 
This  was  certainly  something ;  but  unfortunately  it  was 
not  enough  for  the  proud  nation,  which  remembered  that 
it  had  been  a  great  power  when  Russia,  its  present  master, 
was  no  more  than  a  mean  and  snow-bound  duchy  of 
Muscovy. 

Everywhere  there  were  murmurs  of  discontent,  and 
when  the  magnanimous  Alexander  died  (1825),  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  severe  and  unpopular  brother,  Nicholas, 
they  swelled  to  ominous  proportions.  In  November,  1830, 
under  the  leadership  of  a  few  young  enthusiasts,  the  capital, 
Warsaw,  suddenly  rose  in  insurrection. 
The  revolution  The  Russian  governor  of  Poland  was  Constantine,  the 
successful.  Czar's  brother.  He  lost  his  head  during  the  riot  at  War- 
saw, and  almost  immediately  abandoned  the  city.  As  he 
marched  off  toward  the  Russian  frontier  the  Polish  prov- 
inces rose  in  rebellion  behind  him,  declaring  themselves  of 
one  mind  and  heart  with  the  patriots  of  the  capitaj.  Thus, 
the  Poles  being,  before  a  week  had  passed,  masters  in  their 
own  land,  they  set  up  a  provisional  government  at  Warsaw, 
and  prepared  to  defend  themselves. 


TJie  Revolution  of  i8jo  in  France  351 

Plainly  the  condition  of  success  was  unity  of  purpose  and  The  revolution 
action.  But  that  was  the  one  thing  which  could  not  be  fsai.^^"' 
had.  The  landed  nobility,  with  its  high-flying  feudal  notions, 
could  not  be  made  to  agree  with  the  democracy  in  the  city  ; 
quarrels  between  the  two  classes  were  patched  up  only  to 
break  out  again ;  and  with  weakness,  disunion,  and  treason 
annihilating*  the  government  which  they  left  behind,  the 
raw  Polish  soldiers  marched  out  to  meet  the  great  Russian 
army,  organized  by  a  superior  intelligence,  and  directed  by 
the  energy  of  a  single  will.  But  in  spite  of  disadvantages, 
the  Poles  stood  their  ground  with  all  their  ancient  gallantry 
and  death-defying  courage.  Kosciusko,  the  hero  of  their 
splendid  defence  of  1795,  would  have  had  no  occasion  to 
blush  for  them.  But  mere  valor  was  of  no  avail ;  at  Os- 
trolenka  (May,  1831)  the  Russians  overwhelmed  the  Poles 
with  their  numbers.  A  few  months  later  (September, 
1831)  the  Russian  army,  assisted  by  a  traitor  in  the  Polish 
government,  again  entered  Warsaw.  Thus  the  seal  of 
fate  was  set  upon  the  finis  Polonice  pronounced  in  the 
previous  century. 

When  Czar  Nicholas  again  took  hold,  it  was  with  the   Poland 
grim  resolve  to  remove  all  chances  of  another  Polish  rev-   absorbed  by 
olution.      He  firmly  believed  that  he  had  been  trifled  with    Russia, 
by  the  Poles  because  he  had  proved  himself  too  kind.     He 
would  not  err  in  that  way  any  more.      He  now  determined 
that  Poland  should    be  merged  with  Russia  as  a  Russian 
province,  and  kept  in  check  by  a  Russian  army  of  occupa- 
tion ;  the  very  language  of  the  Poles  was  to  be  replaced  by 
the  Russian  tongue ;  and  their  Catholic  faith  was  to  make 
room  for  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  of  which  the  Czar  was 
the  head.     Poland  now  fell  into  a  sad  eclipse.     Bound  and 
gagged  she  lay  at  the  feet  of  Russia  ;  but  as  long  as  there 
was  life,  her  people  were  determined  to  cling  to  their  na- 
tional memo/ies.     And  they  have  clung  to  them  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE     GOVERNMENT     OF     LOUIS     PHILIPPE     (1830-48)    AND 
THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION    OF    1 848 

LouisPhilippe,        MEANWHILE   France,  the    country  in  which  the  revolu- 
the  citizen-  .  ,      ,    ,  •.••!. 

king.  tionary  movement  had  begun,  was  experimenting  with  its 

new  Orleanist  government.  Clearly  the  success  of  the  vent- 
ure depended,  first  of  all,  on  the  character  of  the  new  king 
and  his  power  to  conciliate  the  numerous  opposition.  And 
at  first  glance  Louis  Philippe,  who  was  shrewd  and  well- 
meaning  and  quite  without  the  ancient  affectations  of  royalty, 
did  not  seem  an  unsuitable  man  for  the  royal  office.  But 
his  situation  was  extremely  perilous,  for  France  was  divided 
into  four  parties,  three  of  which  could  not  possibly  be  rec- 
onciled with  the  reigning  government.  The  Bonapartists, 
the  Bourbonists  or  Legitimists,  and  the  Republicans, 
although  differing  radically  among  themselves,  existed  by 
virtue  of  governmental  principles  which  were  antagonistic 
to  the  Orleanist  dynasty,  and  so  there  remained  nothing 
for  Louis  PhiHppe  to  do  but  to  identify  himself  with  the 
party  of  quiet  Constitutionalists  which  recruited  its  num- 
bers from  the  well-to-do  middle  class  or  bourgeoisie.  By 
that  step,  however,  he  declared  himself  not  the  head  of  the 
country,  but  the  head  of  a  party,  and  gave  an  undeniable 
basis  to  the  derisive  sobriquet  of  rot-bourgeois  (citizen- 
king)  fixed  upon  him  by  the  opposition. 
Growth  of  the  And  there  was  another  and  unexpected  rea.son  why  this 
classes.  championship  of  the  capitalist  middle  class  was  likely  to 

prove  threatening.     As  is  well  known  the  most  important 

352 


The  Government  of  Louis  Philippe  353 

social  fact  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  its  industrial  develop- 
ment. The  increase  of  manufactures  has  drawn  together  in 
the  cities  vast  aggregations  of  workmen,  and  the  increase  of 
intelligence  has  led  these  workmen  to  combine  in  trades- 
unions  and  political  parties,  and  to  demand  from  their 
employers  increasing  social  benefits.  The  result  has  been 
the  conflict  of  capital  and  labor,  for  which  we  have  found 
no  solution  to  this  day.  Now,  at  the  time  of  Louis  Philippe 
this  conflict  was  just  beginning,  and  the  phenomenon  being 
new,  his  government  was  thoroughly  dismayed  by  it.  What 
was  to  be  made  of  the  enthusiasts  called  socialists  who  were 
advancing  all  kinds  of  humane  but  dangerous  programmes  ? 
That  Louis  Philippe  should  have  treated  these  people  with 
harshness  is  not  particularly  strange,  but  he  ought  to  have 
considered  that  he  was  thereby  alienating  from  his  dynasty 
the  whole  working  population  of  France,  and  turning  them 
over  to  the  Republicans. 

Because  of  the  natural  preference  of  Louis  Philippe  for  Guizot  and 
the  middle   class,    the   whole  period   of  his   government  king-fad-^ 
(1830-48)  has  been  called  the  reign  of  the  bourgeoisie,    risers. 
And  most  of  the  prominent  advisers  of  the  king  were  men 
of  that  estate.     Their  programme,  as  is  usual  with  persons 
of  the  thriving  middle  class,  had,  on  the  whole,  an  honest, 
virtuous  character,  but  was  disfigured  by  occasional  narrow 
prejudices.     The  leading  men  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
were  Guizot  and  Thiers,  distinguished  alike  in  their  day 
for  their  literary    labors,^    and    filled    equally   with  eager 
patriotic  zeal.     They  became  determined  rivals,  dividing 
the  Chamber  between  them,  and  occupying  in  turn  the  chief 
post  in  the  ministry.     Both  were  equally  resolute  in  stand- 


>  Both  are  celebrated  as  historians.  Guizot  wrote  a  deeply  philo- 
sophical treatise,  called  "The  History  of  Civilization,"  and  Thiers  pro- 
duced a  brilliant  narrative  of  the  French  Revolution,  the  Consulate,  and 
the  Empire. 


354  Modern  Europe 


ing  by  Louis  Philippe  and  in  fighting  the  plots  of  the  Le- 
gitimists, the  Bonapartists,  and  the  Republicans,  but  they 
fell  out  over  the  important  question  of  the  enlargement  of 
the  voting  body,  which  came  more  to  the  foreground  every 
year,  and  finally  caused  a  new  revolution. 
The  leading  In  these  two  matters,  the  putting  down  of  the  insurrec- 

Lou^ifphii.  tions  of  the  opposition  and  the  enfranchisement  of  new 
ippes  reign.  clalfees  of  voters,  lies  the  chief  interest  of  the  domestic 
history  of  Louis  Philippe's  reign.  Legitimists  and  Re- 
publicans never  ceased  conspiring,  but  the  government, 
ever  on  the  watch,  disposed  of  them  without  difficulty.  It 
also  disposed  without  difficulty  of  the  Bonapartists.  But 
as  their  two  attempts  to  rout  the  government,  although 
ludicrously  feeble  in  themselves,  had  an  astonishing  sequel, 
it  is  necessary  to  give  them  a  word. 

After  the  death  (1832)  of  Napoleon's  only  son  at  Vienna, 
the  great  emperor's  nephew,  Louis  Napoleon,  considered 
himself  heir  of  the  traditions  of  .the  House  of  Bonaparte. 
He  had  spent  his  youth  in  exile,  chiefly  in  Switzerland, 
looking  with  longing  eyes  across  the  boundary  toward  the 
land  of  his  dreams.  In  1836  he  resolved  to  see  if  the 
Napoleonic  memories  were  still  alive  in  France,  and  sud- 
denly appeared  at  Strasburg.  But  the  soldiers  did  not  rise, 
as  was  expected,  and  Louis  Napoleon  was  captured.  At 
Paris  they  treated  the  matter  as  a  joke  ;  the  prince  was  put 
on  board  a  vessel,  and  shipped  to  America.  But  in  1840 
he  tried  his  luck  once  more,  this  time  by  attempting  a  land- 
ing at  Boulogne.  The  second  fiasco  was  as  signal  as  the 
first,  but  Louis  Philippe's  patience  was  now  at  an  end,  and 
he  permitted  the  offender  to  be  condenmed  to  imprison- 
ment for  life.  All  Europe  laughed  heartily  at  the  impotent 
revolutionist,  but  it  was  not  to  be  denied  that  he  had 
brought  the  name  of  Napoleon  once  more  before  the  public, 
and  that  that  fact  might  be  of  consequence.     However,  no 


The  Government  of  Louis  Philippe         355 

man  then  in  authority  in  France  could  be  persuaded  to 
look  upon  the  propaganda  of  the  prisoner  in  a  serious  light. 
Bonapartism  was  regarded  as  dead.  Therefore,  when  in 
1846  Prince  Louis  evaded  his  jailers,  and  made  his  escape 
to  England,  nobody  was  in  the  least  concerned. 

At  the  very  time  when  Prince  Louis  regained  his  free-   The  question 

.   .        of  the  exten- 

dom  the  question  of  the  suffrage  had  entered  a  crisis,  sion  of  the  suf- 
Among  a  population  of  30,000,000,  there  were  only  200,-  ^^^^* 
000  voters.  The  discontent  of  the  masses  at  so  absurd  a 
situation  was  rapidly  becoming  ominous.  Thiers,  having 
a  warmer  feeling  for  the  people  than  most  Orleanists,  pro- 
posed in  the  chambers  again  and  again  an  extension  of 
the  suffrage.  Guizot,  who  was  then  prime  minister,  and 
narrow-minded  in  proportion  to  his  respectability,  would 
not  even  listen  to  the  new  demands.  Thiers  and  his  friends 
thereupon  resolved  to  stir  up  public  opinion,  and  so  force 
the  minister's  hand.  They  held  popular  meetings  coupled 
with  banquets  all  over  the  country.  February  22,  1848, 
they  set  for  a  so-called  Reform  Banquet  in  Paris.  When 
its  arrangements  were  interfered  with  by  the  police,  the 
meeting  was  given  up,  but  the  great  crowd  which  had  gath- 
ered for  the  celebration  thereupon  took  to  parading  the 
streets  and  shouting  for  the  deposition  of  Guizot. 

The  next   day   (February   23),  the  king  dismissed   the   The  break- 
ministry  and  made  an  effort  to  conciliate  the  opposition,    oXanistmon- 
but  a  company  of  soldiers  having  fired  at  the  mob,  killing   archy,  Febru- 
and  wounding  some  fifty  men,  caused  the  passions  of  the 
people  to  flame  up  anew.     Houses  were  sacked  and  the  pal- 
ace of  the  Tuileries  surrounded  by  armed  men.     Finally,  on 
February  24,  Louis  Philippe,  convinced  that  discretion  was 
the  better  part  of  valor,  fled  from  his  capital  to  take  refuge, 
as  Charles  X.  had  done  eighteen  years  before,  in  England. 

The  Orleanist  monarchy  might  yet  have  been  saved  if 
the  deputies,  among  whom  the  Constitutionahsts  had  a 


356 


Modern  Europe 


A  republic 
with  a  provi- 
sional govern- 
ment. 


The  Socialist 
demands. 


Republicans 

vs. 

Socialists. 


clear  majority,  had  stood  their  ground  like  men,  and  pro- 
claimed the  succession  of  the  young  grandson  of  Louis 
Philippe,  the  count  of  Paris.  But  when  the  rioters  broke 
into  the  parliamentary  hall,  the  frightened  members  surren- 
dered the  field,  and  sought  safety  in  flight.  Thus  the  rabble, 
with  the  poet  Lamartine  at  its  head,  found  itself  master  of 
the  legislature  and  of  the  situation.  Spurred  on  to  act 
with  promptness,  it  then  and  there  declared  for  a  Republic, 
and  appointed  a  provisional  government  of  which  Lamar- 
tine became  the  moving  spirit. 

Thus  on  February  24,  1848,  the  Republicans  had  won 
the  day.  But  they  were  far  from  being  a  unanimous  party. 
The  Socialists  formed  an  important  wing  of  the  Republican 
fold,  and  that  they  were  not  going  to  permit  themselves  to 
be  simply  merged  with  the  majority  appeared  from  the 
first.  They  secured  a  representation  in  the  provisional 
government,  and  straightway  demanded  the  proclamation 
of  their  Utopian  programme.  The  provisional  government 
had  to  give  in  so  far  as  to  proclaim  the  so-called  *'  right  to 
labor"  and  to  establish  ''  national  workshops,"  where  the 
unemployed  of  Paris  were  guaranteed  a  living  in  the  service 
of  the  state.  There  were  even  some  crack-brained  agita- 
tors, who,  going  further,  wanted  the  government  to  pro- 
claim community  in  property  and  wives,  but  they  were 
put  off  for  the  present. 

Meanwhile  elections  had  been  ordered  for  a  National 
Assembly  to  settle  in  detail  the  forms  of  the  new  Republic- 
It  met  at  the  beginning  of  May,  1848,  and  straightway 
taking  the  control  into  its  own  hands,  dismissed  Lamartine's 
provisional  government.  Being  composed  largely  of  solid, 
order-loving  Republicans  from  the  country,  the  Assembly 
was  imbued  with  the  strongest  antipathy  toward  the  socialist 
city  faction,  which  aspired  to  manage  the  state.  Carefully  it 
made  ready  to  put  an  end  to  the  prevalent  confusion,  and 


The  Government  of  Louis  Philippe  357 

win  Paris  back  to  the  principles  of  law  and  decency. 
Great  masses  of  troops  were  concentrated  in  the  city  ;  then 
the  most  virulent  and  anarchistic  of  the  disturbers  were, 
after  a  short  resistance  (May),  put  under  lock  and  key; 
finally  (June),  the  Assembly  attacked  the  root  of  all  the 
difficulties,  the  "  national  workshops." 

This  much-trumpeted  socialist  venture  had,  after  a  few  "The  national 
months'  trial,  proved  an  unequivocal  failure.  Of  course  ^°^  ^  °^^' 
the  guarantee  which  it  offered  of  daily  pay  had  drawn  an 
immense  rabble  to  Paris.  But  as  there  were  no  adequate 
provisions  for  employing  the  applicants  industrially,  they 
had  to  be  put  to  useless  digging  and  carting.  Nevertheless, 
in  June,  1848,  over  100,000  ''  national  wbrkmen  "  were  on 
the  government's  pay-roll.  The  drain  on  the  treasury  was 
terrible  ;  besides,  it  was  perfectly  plain  to  every  man  with 
eyes  to  see  that  the  expense  was  incurred  for  a  profitless 
phantom.  The  good  sense  of  the  nation  as  well  as  of  the 
Assembly  revolted  at  the  further  continuation  of  this 
socialist  farce. 

When  the  Socialists  recognized  by  the  proposition  to  dis-  The  Socialists 
solve  the  ''national  workshops"  that  the  day  of  their  june,  1848.' 
favor  was  over,  they  rose  in  insurrection  in  order  to  get  by 
force  what  they  could  not  get  by  law.  They  barricaded 
themselves  in  their  quarters,  and  for  four  days  (June  23 
to  26)  made  a  heroic  stand  against  the  troops  under 
General  Cavaignac,  who  in  this  crisis  had  been  appointed 
dictator.  Never  had  Paris,  accustomed  as  it  was  to  riot- 
ing, witnessed  street-fights  of  such  dimensions  as  it  wit- 
nessed now:  the  Socialists  were  not  put  down  until  ten 
thousand  men  had  been  stretched  dead  or  wounded  upon  the 
pavements.  Of  the  captured  insurgents  four  thousand  were 
transported  across  the  seas.  The  frightful  disease  of  the 
state  had  demanded  a  frightful  remedy ;  but  recovery  was 
the  reward,  for  sociahsm  was  ruined  and  order  established. 


358 


Modem  Europe 


The  new 

republican 

constitution. 


Louis  Napo- 
leon, presi- 
dent. 


Napoleon  a 
threat  to  the 
republic. 


The  National  Assembly,  now  at  last  in  unquestioned  au- 
thority, turned  next  to  its  business  of  making  a  republican 
constitution.  It  voted  that  the  legislative  function  should 
be  entrusted  to  a  single  chamber,  elected  on  the  basis  of 
universal  suffrage,  and  it  assigned  the  executive,  in  imitation 
of  the  United  States,  to  a  president,  elected  directly  by 
the  people  for  a  period  of  four  years.  When  the  constitu- 
tion prepared  on  the  above  lines  was  ready,  the  Assembly 
ordered  the  presidential  election  (Dec.  lo,  1848).  To 
the  surprise  of  Europe,  Lamartine  and  Cavaignac,  who  had 
been  most  in  sight  during  the  previous  months,  received 
only  a  comparatively  few  votes ;  the  vast  majority  of  bal- 
lots were  cast  for  Prince  Louis  Napoleon. 

Prince  Louis  Napoleon  was  already  present  in  France. 
Having  been  elected  to  the  National  Assembly,  he  had 
taken  his  seat  in  the  month  of  September.  His  election, 
a  few  months  later,  to  the  presidency  was  an  ominous 
symptom  of  public  opinion,  filling  the  genuine  Republi- 
cans with  keen  apprehension.  The  astonishingly  large 
majority  of  the  imperial  pretender  clearly  revealed  that 
although  France  had  a  republican  constitution,  four-fifths 
at  least  of  her  people  were  still  monarchists  at  heart. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE     REVOLUTION    OF     1 848     IN    GERMANY,    AUSTRIA,  AND 

ITALY 

From   1830  to   1848,  Germany  and  Italy,  divided  and   Central 
impotent,  were  delivered  over   to   reactionary  influences,    prepared  to 
But  in  both  countries  the  liberal  and  national  spirit,  fos-  g^^^pj^ 
tered    by    the   poets  and  writers,   was   steadily  growing,    set  by  France. 
These  eighteen  years  of  government  by  repression  form  a 
sad  period ;  but  its  burden  was  lightened  for  the  patriots 
by  the  conviction  that  the  people  were  slowly  ripening 
toward   another  movement  in  behalf  of  constitutionalism 
and  unity  more  compact  and  reasoned  than  that  of  1830. 
And  it  is  a  fact  that  even  without  the  Paris  Revolution  of 
1848,  the  revolt  of  Central  Europe  against  the  spirit  of 
reaction  could  hardly  have  been  long  put  off.     As  it  was, 
the    news  of    the  Paris  revolution  straightway   set    both 
eastern  neighbors  of  France  on  fire. 

That  city,  which  the  spirit  of  reaction  had,  as  it  were.  The  revoiu- 
declared  its  chosen  residence,  was  one  of  the  first  to  feel  the  M^arch  1848!^' 
breath  of  the  new  freedom.  On  March  13,  1848,  Vienna 
rose  and  drove  old  Prince  Metternich,  who  more  than  any 
man  had  shaped  the  events  of  the  first  half  of  the  century, 
from  the  chancery  of  the  Austrian  empire,  and  from  the 
capital.  Thereupon  concession  on  concession  was  wrested 
from  the  government.  Terrified  by  the  unexpected 
strength  displayed  by  the  revolutionists,  the  Emperor  Fer- 
dinand had  to  promise  a  constitution  and  a  parliament. 
Absolutism  in  Austria  seemed  to  have  been  laid  in  its  grave. 

359 


36o 


Modern  Europe 


Revolution 
throughout 
Austria  and 
Germany. 


The  German 
patriots  call  to- 
gether a  Ger- 
man Parlia- 
ment. 


The  position 
of  the  German 
Parliament. 


The  news  of  the  revohition  at  Vienna  had  hardly  been 
carried  abroad  when  it  was  followed  by  sympathetic 
action  in  all  the  component  parts  of  the  polyglot  empire 
of  the  Hapsburgs.  Germany,  too,  on  which  the  hand  of 
Metternich  had  lain  with  particular  heaviness,  was  seized 
with  exultation  at  his  fall.  There  were  riots  in  many  of 
the  small  states  of  Germany,  and  on  March  i8,  Berlin 
followed  the  example  of  the  German  sister-city  of  the  south. 
The  king  of  Prussia,  Frederick  William  IV.  (1840-61),  at 
the  request  of  the  citizens,  withdrew  the  troops  from  the 
capital,  and  promised  a  parliamentary  government.  Thus 
by  a  single  united  effort  the  German  people  of  north  and 
south  seemed  to  have  realized  all  their  liberal  aspirations. 

But  another  aspiration  —  the  longing  for  an  effective 
German  union — had  always  been  closely  associated  with 
the  constitutional  programme.  Most  wisely  the  various 
local  leaders,  elated  over  the  liberal  successes,  argued  that, 
now  or  never,  was  the  time  to  strike  for  a  national  govern- 
ment. Having  met  in  council,  they  agreed  to  call  a 
general  German  Parliament  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
the  bases  of  a  federal  government. 

The  German  Parliament,  elected  by  universal  suffrage, 
met  in  May,  1848,  at  Frankfurt-on-the-Main.  It  was 
composed  in  large  part  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
the  land,  and  was  animated  with  a  generous  zeal  for  Ger- 
man unity.  But  intelligence  and  zeal  alone  do  not  suffice 
for  lasting  performances ;  what  heart  and  mind  conceive, 
force  must  realize.  Thus  the  great  question  before  the 
German  Parliament  was  not  so  much  :  would  it  prove  itself 
wise  enough,  but  rather  would  it  have  the  force  to  effect 
the  changes  which  it  was  about  to  advocate ;  in  other 
words,  could  it  make  good  the  claim  which  it  was  putting 
forward  of  being  the  sovereign  body  in  Germany? 

For  the  first  few  months  the  German  Parliament  expe- 


Revolution  in  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy     36] 


rienced  no  difficulties.     The  terrified  governments  bowed   Certainty  of 

/-    A  •  1      1        Struggle  be- 

to  its  authority.  Even  the  emperor  of  Austria  and  the  tween  the  Par- 
king of  Prussia  seemed  to  have  resigned  their  sovereign  golj^e'rnments.^ 
rights  to  the  democratic  body  sitting  at  Frankfurt.  But 
suppose  the  case  that,  on  the  lessening  of  the  popular  press- 
ure at  Vienna  and  Berlin,  one  or  the  other  of  the  great 
monarchs  refused  to  accept  a  decree  forwarded  from  the 
Parliament — what  then  ?  There  would  then  be  a  conflict 
of  authorities  which  would  furnish  a  test  of  the  relative 
strength  of  the  new  national  assembly  and  the  old  state 
governments. 

The  test  was  offered,   and   that  soon    enough,    by   the   The  question 

T      1       •  !•        •  mi  11-  r   of  Schleswig 

Schleswig  -  Holstem   complication.      1  he    two    duchies    01   and  Holsteln. 

Schleswig  and  Holstein  occupy  the  southern   half  of  the 

peninsula  of  Jutland,  and  are  inhabited  for  the   most  part 

by  a  German -speaking   people.     They  were  at  that  time 

united  with   Denmark  in  a  personal  union,    that   is,  their 

duke  was  also  king  of  Denmark  ;  but  they  lived,  in  spite 

of  that  fact,  under  their  own  laws,  of  the  observance  of 

which  by   the  king  of  Denmark   they   were   exceedingly 

jealous.^     Now   it  had   lately  become   apparent    that    the 

Danish  royal  House  would  soon  die  out  in  the  male  line. 

The  Danish  law  provided  that,  in  such  an  event,  the  crown 

should  pass  to  the  female  line  ;  by  the  law  of  the  duchies, 

however,   the  succession  to  Schleswig-Holstein  would  fall 

to  a  secondary  male  branch. 

In   fear  of  this  separation,  the  king  of  Denmark   pub- 
lished for  Schleswig-Holstein,  in  the  year  1846,  a  new  law 
of  succession  by  virtue  of  which  the  union  of  Denmark  and   The  revolt  of 
the  duchies  was  secured    for  all  time.      The    disaffection   1848. 
aroused  thereby  throughout  the  duchies  was  general,  and 


'  The  connection  between  the  duchies  and  Denmark  was  analogous  to 
that  of  England  and  Scotland  under  James  I. 


362  Modern  Europe 


in  1848  the  Schleswig-Holsteiners,  encouraged  by  the  gen- 
eral confusion  in  Europe,  and  resolute  to  make  themselves 
independent  of  a  power  which  according  to    their   view 
disregarded  their  rights,  boldly  cast  off  the  Danish  yoke. 
The  Parlia-       Since   as  Germans    they    appealed  to    the    Parliament    at 
men     e     .        Frankfurt  for  help,  that  body,  claiming  to  represent  the 
German  name,  could  not  remain  deaf  to   their  cries.      It 
ordered  Prussia  and  some  other  states  of  the  north  to  march 
their  troops  into  the  duchies,  and  in,  the  name  of  Germany 
drive  the  Danes  out.     That  feat  was  soon  accomplished, 
for  the  Danes  are  not  a  powerful  nation  ;   but  the  Danes 
took  revenge  by  destroying  the  Prussian  shipping  of  the 
Baltic.     This  the  king  of  Prussia  stood  for  a  while,  but 
when  in  the  course  of  the  summer  it  seemed  to  him  that 
the  tide  of  revolution  in  Germany  was  running  lower,  he 
took  heart,  and,  without  consulting  the  German  Parliament, 
signed  a  truce  with  the  Danes  which  practically  delivered 
Prussia  makes  the  brave  Schleswig-Holsteiners  over  to  their  Danish  mas- 
peace,  ters  (August  26,  1 848).     When  the  Parliament  heard  of 

August,  184  .  j.j^-g  ^^j.  -J.  ^^  furious  against  the  disobedient  king.  There 
was  talk  for  a  time  of  civil  war ;  but  the  talk  subsided 
very  quickly,  and,  on  second  thoughts,  the  Parliament  en- 
dorsed everything  which  Prussia  had  done.  The  long  and 
short  of  the  situation  was  that  Prussia  had  an  army  and  the 
Parliament  not.  But  Prussia  having  by  this  occurrence 
discovered  the  essential  impotence  of  the  Parliament,  would 
not  the  other  governments  before  long  discover  it  too  ? 
In  fact,  the  local  governments  began  gradually  to  pick  up 
courage,  and  as  early  as  September,  1848,  it  was  plain  that 
the  national  Parliament  at  Frankfurt  was  a  beautiful  illu- 
sion, and  that  its  days  were  numbered. 
Milan  and  While  the  local  revolutions,  the  national  Parliament  at 

agTinsV^^        Frankfurt,  and  the  Schleswig-Holstein  war  were  engaging 
^"^^'■j^'  the  attention  of  Germany,  Italy  was  stirred  from  Sicily  to 


Revolution  in  Germany^  Austria^  and  Italy     363 

the  Alps  by  a  similar  political  movement.  At  the  first 
news  of  the  revolution  at  Vienna,  Milan  and  Venice  rose 
against  th  Aiistrians,  drove  out  the  troops,  and  declared  for 
independence  (March,  1848).  The  Austrians,  although 
thoroughly  surprised,  retired  in  good  order  under  their 
general,  Radetzky,  to  the  impregnable  fortifications  of  the 
Quadrilateral,^  and  awaited  re-enforcements.  Milan  and 
Venice  set  up  provisional  governments  and  called  upon 
Charles  Albert,  king  of  Sardinia,  and  the  other  Italian  gov- 
ernments to  come  to  their  help  against  the  foreign  tyrants. 
As  the  revolutionary  fever  had  already  seized  Tuscany, 
Rome,  and  the  other  states,  and  the  liberal  spirit  was  All  Italy 
everywhere  triumphant,  assistance  was  freely  promised  from  help, 
all  sides,  and  in  the  spring  of  1848  Italian  troops,  contrib- 
uted by  all  the  provinces  of  the  peninsula,  converged  in  long 
lines  upon  the  middle  course  of  the  Po.  The  expected 
war  of  all  Italy  against  the  foreign  oppressor  was  at  length 
engaged. 

Of  the  motley  Italian  army  thus  hurriedly  mobilized  to  The 
assist  the  Lombards  and  Venetians,  Charles  Albert,  king  of  crush  the  king 
Sardinia,  assumed  the  command.     The  fact  that  he  was  the  of  Sardinia 

'  and  his 

head  of  the   House  of  Savoy,  the  oldest  ruling  family  of  Italian  allies, 

1848—49. 
Italy,  and  that  he  had  expressed  his  sympathy  with  the  con- 
stitutional and  national  aspirations  of  his  countrymen, 
pointed  him  out  to  all  Italians  as  their  natural  leader.  But 
his  difficulties  were  great.  His  troops  were  undisciplined, 
the  rival  governments  which  sent  them  distrustful.  Under 
the  circumstances,  it  is  not  surprising  that  when  the  veteran 
and  skilful  Radetzky  ventured  forth  from  his  defenses,  he 
should  have  decided  the  war  at  a  stroke.  On  July  25, 
1848,  the  Austrians  won  the  great  battle  of  Custozza,  scat- 
tered the  Italian  forces,  and  straightway  re-entered   Milan. 

I  The  district  enclosed  by  the  four  great  fortresses  of  Verona,  Mantua, 
Peschiera,  and  Legnago. 


3^4 


Modern  Europe 


Sardinia 
makes  peace, 
March,  1849. 


Lombardy 
and  Venice 
reconquered. 


The  revolution 
general  in 
Italy. 


When,  after  a  six  months'  armistice,  Charles  Albert  tried 
his  luck  once  more,  he  met  with  no  better  success.  Sick  at 
heart,  he  abdicated,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  the  fa- 
mous Victor  Emmanuel  II.  (March,  1849).  When  young 
Victor  Emmanuel  professed  his  willingness  to  sign  a  peace, 
Austria,  harassed  sufficiently  in  other  quarters,  made  no  ob- 
jections. By  the  terms  of  the  peace  agreement  the  defeated 
monarch  of  Sardinia-Piedmont  paid  a  money-fine  to  Aus- 
tria, but  did  not  lose  a  foot  of  territory. 

Before  that  document  was  signed,  Austria  had  already  re- 
established her  hold  on  Lombardy,  and  now,  after  a  brave, 
resistance  on  the  part  of  the  people,  she  put  her  yoke  on 
Venice  as  well.  Thus,  only  a  little  over  a  year  after  the 
hopeful  rising  of  March,  1848,  the  Austrian  soldiers  had 
again  laid  the  Italian  north  at  their  feet,  and  had  again 
proved  their  ancient  valor  and  the  strength  of  their  emperor. 
But  to  the  Italians  also  the  war  had  brought  a  benefit. 
Through  stinging  disaster  they  had  learned  the  lesson  that 
they  must  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  if  their  righteous 
cause  was  ever  to  triumph ;  and  they  had  become  per- 
suaded by  a  comradeship  of  arms,  no  less  sacred  because 
disastrous,  that  the  House  of  Savoy  was  their  natural  point 
of  union. 

Even  before  the  Austrians  had  regained  their  two  prov- 
inces of  Lombardy  and  Venice,  the  revolutions  in  the  cen- 
tral and  southern  part  of  the  peninsula  had  come  to  an  end, 
and  the  old  reactionary  spirit  had  again  triumphed.  In 
March,  1848,  nobody  would  have  predicted  that  result; 
the  rulers  of  Tuscany,  Modena,  the  States  of  the  Church, 
and  Naples  had  all  been  forced  to  sanction  the  revolution  on 
pain  of  being  driven  from  the  country.  Of  course,  such 
a  sanction  extracted  from  a  reactionary  despot  was  in- 
voluntary and,  though  confirmed  by  an  oath,  likely  to  be 
withdrawn  at  the  first  opportunity  which  offered. 


Revolution  in  Germany^  Austria^  and  Italy     365 

In  Naples  the  reactionary  opportunity  offered  itself  very  The  liberals 
soon  to  the  monarch,  chafing  under  constitutional  restraints.    Naple?^^  ^" 
As  early  as  May,  1848,  only  three  months  after  the  victory 
of  the  revolution,  the  royal  troops  broke  the  resistance  of 
the  people,  and  re-established  the  absolute  throne.     There- 
upon southern,  like    northern,    Italy   relapsed   again    into 
quiet  and  reaction.     But  far  and  away  the  most  interesting   Rome, 
happenings  on  the  Italian  stage,  next  to  those  in  Lom- 
bardy,  occurred  in  central  Italy,  at  Rome. 

In  the  year  1848,  Pius  IX.,  a  very  earnest  and  affable  The  Pope, 
man  who  had  won  the  favor  of  his  subjects  by  a  number  of  tween  two  ^' 
generous  measures,  was  sovereign  Pontiff  and   lord  of  the   ^^^^- 
States  of  the  Church.     He  sympathized  with  the  liberal 
party,  and  on  the  first  stirrings  of  the  revolution  granted 
his  people  a  constitution.     But  when  it  came  to  joining  in 
the  national  war  with  the  rest  of  Italy  against  Austria,  he 
called  a  halt.     A  universal  Pope,  he  argued,  leading  Cath- 
olics to  be  slaughtered  by  other  Catholics  was  a  ludicrous 
and  impossible  figure.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Romans  gen- 
erally maintained,  and  with  as  much  show  of  reason,  that 
an  Italian   prince  who   contributed   nothing  to  the  over- 
throw of  the  tyrants  of  Italy  was  no  better  than  a  traitor. 
Now  it  was  that  the  Pope  began  to  experience  the  calamity 
of  his  double  position  as  a  spiritual  and  a  temporal  ruler. 
In  his  dilemma  he  did   nothing  ;  but  the  Romans,  who   The  Pope 
wished  passionately  to  help  their  Lombard  brethren  against   ber,  1848 
Austria,  grew  so  dangerously  restless  that  Pius  IX.  finally 
fled  from  the  city,  and  took  refuge  in  Gaeta,  on  Neapolitan 
soil  (November   24,  1848).      Thereupon   Rome  fell   com- 
pletely into  the  hands  of  the  revolutionists  under  the  lead- 
ership of  the  famous  agitator  Mazzini,  and  at  Mazzini's  in- 
stigation, the  Pope  was  declared  to  have  forfeited  his  tem- 
poral dignities,  and  the  papal  dominions  were  proclaimed 
a  republic. 


366 


Modern  Europe 


The  Roman 
Republic. 


Austria — the 
German,  Slav, 
Hun^rian, 
and  Italian  re- 
volts. 


Mazzini's  new  Roman  Republic  never  had  more  than  a 
fighting  chance  to  hve.  CathoHc  peoples  the  world  over 
were  horrified  at  its  high-handed  treatment  of  the  Holy 
Father,  and  made  ready  to  interfere.  Louis  Napoleon, 
president  of  the  French  Republic,  was  especially  delighted 
at  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  Roman  events  to  curry 
favor  with  the  Catholic  clergy  and  peasantry  of  France. 
He  now  sent  an  army  to  Rome  to  sweep  Mazzini  and  his 
republicans  out  of  the  city.  General  Garibaldi,  who  had 
been  made  commander-in-chief,  put  up  a  gallant  fight,  but 
in  the  end  had  to  give  way  to  numbers.  In  July,  1849, 
the  French  entered  the  conquered  city,  and  the  old  papal 
regimen  was  re-established.  A  few  months  later  the  hated 
Pope  returned  to  the  Vatican.  There  was  now  no  further 
talk  of  reform  ;  Pius  IX. 's  early  liberalism  had  died  from 
terror  during  his  exile  at  Gaeta.  Thus,  after  a  year  of  wild 
excitement,  Italy  again  enjoyed  peace  under  her  petty  and 
despised  princes ;  but  it  was  a  sullen  peace,  for  it  was  im- 
posed by  foreign  bayonets. 

While  these  things  were  happening  in  Italy,  the  reaction 
had  again  definitely  set  in  in  Germany  and  in  Austria.  In 
the  spring  of  1848  Austria  seemed  to  have  gone  to  wrack 
and  ruin.  This  empire  of  many  races  was  held  tpgether 
by  only  a  few  customary  ties,  and  under  the  pressure  of  the 
March  events  they  snapped  like  thin  threads.  Hardly  had 
the  Germans,  as  has  been  described,  revolted  at  Vienna, 
when  all  the  other  Austrian  peoples  followed  suit.  In  a 
few  weeks  there  were  separate  revolutions  among  the  Slavs 
(Czechs)  at  Prague,  among  the  Hungarians  at  Budapest, 
and  among  the  Italians  at  Milan  and  Venice;  Austria 
seemed  destined  to  fall  into  four  independent  states  corre- 
sponding to  the  four  leading  races  of  which  she  was  made 
up.  If  that  dissolution  did  not  actually  occur  in  1848,  it 
is  due  solely  to  one  institution — the  Austrian  army.     Dur- 


Revolution  in  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy     367 

ing  all  the  disturbances  the  army  held  loyally  together  under 
its  natural  head,  the  emperor,  and  gradually  restored  quiet. 

In  June,  Windischgraetz,  the   general    commanding  in   The  Slavs, 
Bohemia,  was  ordered  to  proceed  against  the  riotous  Slavs   itaiiTns^recon- 
of  Prague.     He  put  them  down  without  much  trouble,  and   q^^red. 
then  marched  south  against  the  Germans  at  Vienna.    There 
the  actions  of  the  students  and  other  revolutionists  had 
lately  grown  so  extravagant    that  the  emperor  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  country.     In  October,  Windischgraetz,  after 
a  bloody  street-fight,  forced  an  entrance  into  the  capital. 
The  revolutionists  were  shot  upon  the  barricades  or  else 
cruelly  executed.    Thus  the  Slavs  and  the  Germans  having 
been  reduced  to  order,  there  remained  only  the  struggle  with 
the  Italians  and  the  Hungarians.     But  as  Radetzky  was 
rapidly  beating  the  former  into  submission  (battle  of  Cus-   The  Hunga- 
tozza,  July  25),  almost  the  whole  force  of  Austria  was  now  home  rule. 
free  to  be  concentrated  upon  Budapest. 

Although  the  Hungarians  had  bowed  for  centuries  to  the 
yoke  of  the  Hapsburgs,  they  had  never  lost  their  proud,  in- 
dependent, spirit.  Under  their  leader,  Louis  Kossuth,  they 
had  now,  in  the  summer  of  1848,  made  themselves  as  good 
as  independent.  They  did  not  object  to  a  ruler  of  the  House 
of  Hapsburg,  but  they  wished  to  be  free  of  the  connection 
with  the  other  parts  of  the  many-tongued  empire.  As  the 
programme  of  the  emperor  and  his  ministry  was,  in  sharp  Russia  and 
contrast  to  the  Hungarian  idea,  the  maintenance  of  the  in-  the  Hungarian 
divisible  Hapsburg  realm,  Windischgraetz,  in  order  to  real-  ^u^f  ^igdo^"' 
ize  it,  moved  in  the  winter  into  Hungary  at  the  head  of 
100,000  troops. 

The  Hungarians  fought  splendidly  for  their  freedom,  and 
at  first  actually  drove  the  Austrians  back ;  but  Kossuth, 
overelated  at  his  success,  made  the  mistake  of  proclaiming 
Hungary  a  republic  (April,  1849),  and  immediately  Czar 
Nicholas,  in  alarm  at  the  progress  of  the  democratic  spirit 


gust,  1849. 


368 


Modern  Europe 


Austria  again 
on  her  legs. 


The  reaction 
spreads  to 
Germany. 


Prussia  gets 
a  constitution, 
1849- 


at  his  very  border,  offered  to  help  out  his  brother  of  Aus- 
tria with  a  flank  attack.  In  the  summer  the  Austrians  from 
the  west  and  the  Russians  from  the  east  caught  the  Hun- 
garians between  them,  and  quickly  made  an  end  of  their 
resistance  (August,  1849).  Hungary,  broken  in  spirit  and 
resources,  stolidly  reassumed  the  Austrian  yoke. 

As  for  Austria,  she  had,  after  a  year  of  terrible  commo- 
tions, successively  subdued  the  revolution  among  her  Slav, 
her  German,  her  Italian,  and  her  Hungarian  subjects,  and 
was  now  again  a  great  power  under  the  absolute  govern- 
ment of  her  young  emperor,  Francis  Joseph,  who  had  only 
just  succeeded  his  uncle,  Ferdinand,  on  the  throne  (Decem- 
ber, 1848). 

The  victory  of  the  reaction  in  Austria  was  sure  to  affect 
greatly  the  affairs  of  Prussia  and  Germany.  In  fact,  hardly 
had  the  king  of  Prussia  heard  of  the  victory  ofWindisch- 
graetz  over  the  people  of  Vienna,  when  he  resolved  to  pro- 
ceed against  the  revolutionists  in  his  own  capital.  He  there- 
fore ordered  the  troops  to  take  possession  of  Berlin,  and  dis- 
solved the  Prussian  Diet,  which  was  engaged  in  making  a 
constitution  for  Prussia.  There  was  little  resistance,  for 
the  people  were  greatly  attached  to  their  House  of  Hohen- 
zollern.  Probably  for  this  reason  King  Frederick  Wilham 
IV.  was  loath  to  disappoint  their  liberal  expectations  alto- 
gether. Of  his  own  free  will  he  presented  the  people,  in 
February,  1849,  with  a  constitution,  and  although  it  was 
not  as  democratic  as  could  have  been  wished,  it  at  least 
secured  to  the  Prussian  people  a  share  in  the  government. 
Revolution  was  thus  put  down  in  Prussia  as  elsewhere,  but 
here,  almost  alone,  the  king  had  been  wise  enough  to  accept 
the  more  moderate  popular  demands. 

We  left  the  German  Parliament  at  Frankfurt  at  the  time 
of  its  first  great  discomfiture,  in  the  matter  of  the  Schleswig- 
Holstein    war    (September,    1848).     That   difficulty   had 


Revolution  in  Germany^  Austria,  and  Italy     369 

proved  that  the  ParHament  could  not  exact  obedience  from 

a  great  state  like  Prussia.     But  if  that  was  the  case  before  The  German 

,  .  ,        -    ,  ,,.  1   T^     1-  Parliament  en- 

the  triumph  of  the  governments  at  Vienna  and  Berlin  over  dangered  by 
the  revolutionists,  how  would  matters  stand  after  these  gov-   ^^  reaction, 
ernments  had  recovered  their  strength  ?     In  fact,  Austria 
and  Prussia  paid  less  and  less  attention  to  the  Parliament 
which,  having  been  elected  by  the  people  of  all  the  states, 
still  claimed  to  be  the  sovereign  body  in  Germany. 

Although  the  members  of  the  Parliament  were  themselves  The  crown 
bitterly  conscious  that  their  power  was  waning,  they  kept  Frederick 
bravely  to  the  task  for  which  they  had  been  called  together,  ^pru^jl^'' 
In  the  course  of  the  winter  (1848-49)  they  completed  their 
constitution  for  united  Germany  ;  there  now  remained  only 
the  difficult  matter  of  finding  a  head  for  the  new  constitu- 
tion— an  emperor.  And  on  this  rock  the  whole  labors  of 
the  Parliament  were  shattered  to  pieces.  Naturally  the 
choice  lay  between  the  two  greatest  German  princes,  the 
emperor  of  Austria  and  the  king  of  Prussia.  The  ques- 
tion of  their  respective  merits  was  hotly  debated,  but  the 
fact  that  Prussia  was  more  of  a  German  state  than  dis- 
jointed Austria,  finally  won  a  majority  for  Frederick  Will- 
iam IV.  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  was  furious  ;  being  a 
Hapsburg,  he  looked  upon  the  Hohenzollern  as  mere  up- 
starts, and  swore  to  declare  war  rather  than  recognize  a 
German  emperor  of  that  line.  Under  these  conditions 
all  Germany  fixed  its  eyes  with  anxious  interest  upon  the 
deputation  from  the  German  Parliament,  which  in  April, 
1849,  travelled  to  Berlin  to  offer  to  the  Prussian  king  the 
crown  of  united  Germany. 

Frederick  William  IV.  was,  unlike  most  of  his  family,  a   Frederick 
timid  man.      He  had  a  deep  respect  for  the  Hapsburgs,  as   declines  being 
the  traditional  rulers  of  Germany,  and  a  great  dread  of  ^"^P^''^^- 
their  military  power.     But  he  was  also  moved  by  a  keen 
German  patriotism,  and  believed  that  the  long  humiliation 


370  Modern  Europe 


of  Germany  ought  to  be  put  an  end  to  by  the  creation  of  a 
strong  central  government.  Unfortunately,  the  proffered 
imperial  rr^7£///  gave  no  guarantee  of  imperial /^w<?r.  Sup- 
pose the  other  states  refused  to  recognize  the  new  em- 
peror? If  so,  Frederick  William  would  have  to  defeat 
each  one  of  them  in  war,  before  his  new  crown  was  safe. 
This  consideration  determined  the  issiie  with  the  king;  he 
might  possibly  have  fought  Austria  and  her  German  sup- 
porters for  a  substantial  and  a  sure  benefit ;  he  would  not 
fight  them  for  the  shadow  of  a  crown.  Thus  it  came 
about  that  when  the  delegates  waited  on  Frederick  William 
at  his  castle  in  Berhn  their  offer  was  politely  rejected. 
The  Bund  The  refusal  naturally  annihilated  the  Parliament.    There 

were  a  few  final  convulsions  of  the  revolutionary  monster 
here  and  there,  and  then  there  was  quiet.  Fate  seemed  to 
have  decided  that  there  should  be  no  united  Germany. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  feeling  of  resignation  which 
seized  upon  the  land,  Austria  now  proposed  to  the  govern- 
ments to  reinstate  the  old  ludicrous  Bund,  which  the  events 
of  1848  had  swept  out  of  existence.  The  ^//;/^/,  with  its 
Diet,  in  which  the  various  government  delegates  met, 
talked,  and  decided  nothing,  seemed  the  best  thing  Ger- 
many was  capable  of.  Slowly  the  secondary  states  as- 
sented to  the  Austrian  proposal ;  Prussia  alone,  from  shame 
at  the  despicable  farce,  delayed  her  acceptance.  But  what 
was  there  to  do?  Prussia  having  refused  the  imperial 
crown,  the  Bund  ^2&  the  natural  alternative.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1850,  Prussia  signed  at  Olmiitz  a  convention  with 
Austria,  in  which  she  bowed  to  every  demand  which  that 
state  made  concerning  the  settlement  of  Germany.  ' 

Schieswig  and       In  this  general  collapse  of  German  hopes  and  illusions 
crushed.  .         the  Schleswig-Holsteiners,  who  had  built  their  revolution 
on  the  prospect  of  a  united  Germany,  could  not  escape 
disaster.     Abandoned  by  Prussia  in  August,    1848,   they 


Revolution  in  Germany^  Austria^  and  Italy     371 

continued  to  fight  manfully  against  the  Danes  for  their 
freedom.  P'inally,  Russia  and  England  were  moved  to 
interfere.  They  called  a  conference  of  the  powers  at  Lon- 
don (1850),  which  determined  that  the  unruly  duchies  of 
Schleswig  and  Holstein  were  to  be  inseparably  connected 
with  the  Danish  crown.  Outwardly  the  duchies  now  bowed 
to  the  inevitable,  but  an  inner  acceptance  of  the  unjust 
decree  no  amount  of  pressure  could  wring  out  of  them.  It 
was  evident  that  they  would  rise  again  at  a  more  auspicious 
moment. 

With  the  German  Parliament  dissolved,  the  Schleswig-  Another  reign 
Holsteiners  delivered  over  to  the  Danes,  the  Bund  recon- 
stituted at  Frankfurt,  it  seemed,  in  the  year  1851,  that  the 
Metternichian  era  had  come  again.  The  patriots  were 
filled  with  despair.  But  as  far  as  they  were  thoughtful 
men,  they  must  have  made  this  observation  :  the  move- 
ment of  1848  had  failed  because  it  was  a  merely  popular 
action,  which  took  no  account  of  the  established  authori- 
ties. The  established  authorities  had,  therefore,  been  its 
enemy,  and  had  ruined  it.  If,  in  the  future,  the  govern- 
ments themselves  would  take  up  the  national  movement, 
and  direct  it  into  sensible  channels,  would  there  not  then 
be  more  chance  of  success  ? 


of  reaction. 


CHAPTER   VI 

FRANCE    UNDER    NAPOLEON    III. THE    UNIFICATION    OF 

ITALY 

The  Napo-  The  election   of  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  to  the  presi- 

leonic  propa-        ,  i  r- 

ganda.  dency  of  the  French   Republic    (December,    1848)    had 

greatly  discouraged  the  Republican  party.  And  the  new- 
president  immediately  justified  the  suspicions  entertained 
against  him.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  put  down,  with 
French  troops,  the  Roman  Republic  of  Mazzini  and  Gari- 
baldi (June,  1849).  Republics  evidently  were  not  his 
hobby.  Next  he  tried  in  every  way  to  increase,  at  the 
expense  of  his  office,  his  personal  popularity.  In  frequent 
journeys  through  the  provinces  reference  was  made  to 
"my  great  uncle,"  and  ''to  the  glories  of  the  First 
Empire."  The  Legislative  Assembly,  the  majority  of 
which  was  composed  of  anti -Republicans,  was  neither  will- 
ing nor  able  to  stop  this  revolutionary  agitation. 

The  coup  Finally,  in  185 1,  everything  was  ready  for  a  great  stroke. 

d'etat  of  De- 

cember,  1851.  The  president  had  demanded  that  the  provision  of  the  con- 
stitution, by  which,  at  the  expiration  of  his  four  years* 
term  of  office,  he  could  not  stand  for  re-election,  be  revised. 
When  the  Republican  minority  in  the  Legislature  hindered 
the  passage  of  the  proposed  measure.  Napoleon  saw  that  if 
he  would  continue  in  power,  he  must  overthrow  the  con- 
stitution. Accordingly,  December  2,  1851,  was  appointed 
for  a  coup  (t ctat.  The  leading  Republicans  were  arrested 
and  the  Legislature  dissolved  ;  at  the  same  time  a  public 
proclamation  announced  that  the  president  would  give  the 

372 


France   Under  Napoleon  III.  373 


country  a  better  constitution.  There  were  only  a  few  pro- 
tests, and  on  December  20  the  country  at  large,  invited   Napoleon, 

1  •        1  11  •  emperor. 

to  vote  on  the  change,  accepted  its  shame  by  a  large  major- 
ity. Exactly  a  year  later  (December  2,  1852),  Napoleon 
dropped  the  last  vestige  of  Republicanism,  and  assumed 
the  title  of  Emperor  Napoleon  III.^  A  new  constitution 
assured  a  share  in  the  government  to  a  senate  and  a  legis- 
lative body,  but  the  share  was  merely  nominal. 

A  Napoleonic  empire  could  only  be  maintained  by  mih-   Napoleon's 

1  .    1      /n  11  •  /-IT-.  1      policy    of    ad- 

tary  successes  which  nattered  the  vanity  of  the  l^rench  venture, 
people.  So  at  least  Napoleon  argued,  and  directed  in 
consequence  all  the  efforts  of  his  reign  toward  attempts  at 
harvesting  what  his  subjects  called  *'gloire."  These  at- 
tempts won  him  at  first  an  enviable  position;  they  ended 
by  plunging  him  and  his  country  into  defeat  and  misery. 

The  first  opening  for  Napoleon's  policy  of  adventure  was  The  Crimean 
offered  in  the  east.  Czar  Nicholas  had  lately  made  the  '  ' 
somewhat  obvious  discovery  that  the  Sultan  was  "■  a  sick 
man."  Being  convinced  that  he,  Nicholas,  was  the  Sultan's 
natural  heir,  he  held  it  to  be  a  piece  of  unnecessary  polite- 
ness to  wait  for  the  "sick  man's"  death  before  he  took 
possession  of  the  heritage.  He  suddenly  demanded  of  the 
Sultan  to  be  recognized  as  the  protector  of  all  the  Greek 
Christians  resident  in  Turkey.  When  the  Sultan  refused, 
Nicholas  invaded  Moldavia  (July,  1853).  Europe  being 
filled  with  indignation  at  this  high-handed  measure,  Napo- 
leon had  no  difficulty  in  persuading  England  to  unite  with 
him  in  a  protest.  When  Russia  gave  no  heed  to  the  joint 
remonstrance,  the  two  western  powers  made  an  alliance  with 
Turkey,  and  declared  war  (March,  1854). 

The  Russian  campaign  of  1854  was  a  complete  failure.    The  siege  of 
The  Russian  forces  tried   to  take   the  Danubian  fortresses,      ^  ^^  ^^° ' 


»  The  son  of  the   great  Napoleon  is  reckoned  as  Napoleon  II.     He 
died  in  1832. 


374 


Modern  Europe 


The  Peace  of 
Paris,  1855. 


Napoleon 
turns  to  new 
enterprises. 


Policy  of 
Victor 
Emmanuel 
and  Cavour. 


but  on  being  repulsed  by  the  Turks,  withdrew  in  June  from 
the  invaded  territory.  Consequently,  when  the  English 
and  French  forces  arrived  in  Turkey,  there  was  no  enemy 
to  be  seen  ;  the  war  had  come  to  an  end.  But  as  so  in- 
glorious a  conclusion  was  not  to  Napoleon's  taste,  he 
ordered  his  generals  not  to  return  without  some  kind  of 
victory.  It  was  therefore  agreed  between  the  French  and 
English  to  attack  the  great  Russian  stronghold  in  the 
Crimea,  Sebastopol.  But  unfortunately  for  the  western 
powers  the  capture  proved  no  easy  matter.  Sebastopol, 
admirably  defended  by  the  Russians,  was  taken  only  after 
a  siege  which  lasted  a  whole  year,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
memorable  events  of  the  kind  in  history.  But  the  final 
surrender  of  Sebastopol  in  September,  1855,  thoroughly 
discouraged  the  Russians.  As  the  war-like  Nicholas  had 
died  in  March  of  the  same  year,  and  been  succeeded  by 
his  son,  the  gentle  Alexander  II.  (1855-81),  there  was  now 
no  further  obstacle  to  peace.  At  a  Congress  held  at  Paris, 
Russia  in  exchange  for  Sebastopol  gave  up  her  pretensions 
to  Turkey,  and  all  the  powers  together  assumed  the  duty 
previously  claimed  by  Russia  alone  of  protecting  the  Chris- 
tian subjects  resident  in  Turkish  territory  (March,  1856). 

The  Peace  of  Paris,  dictated  by  Napoleon  in  his  own 
capital,  won  for  the  Empire  the  place  of  first  power  in 
Europe.  But  Napoleon  was  not  satisfied.  It  is  the  nature 
of  war  to  incite  new  wars,  and  ambition  once  aroused  is  not 
easily  checked.  Attracted  by  the  prospect  of  a  military 
glory  still  greater  than  that  won  in  Crimea,  Napoleon  now 
began  to  turn  his  attention  to  Italy. 

A  welcome  excuse  for  interesting  himself  in  the  affairs  of 
the  transalpine  peninsula  was  furnished  Napoleon  by  the 
fact  that  Sardinia- Piedmont,  the  largest  native  state  of 
Italy,  had  voluntarily  sought  his  friendshij)  and  alliance. 
Since  the  War  of  1848,  King  Victor  Emmanuel  was  firmly 


France   Under  Napoleon  III.  37b 

held  by  all  Italians  to  be  the  future  unifier  of  Italy.  Victor 
Emmanuel  himself  held  this  view.  The  practical  question 
before  the  recognized  champion  of  Italy  was  :  what  meas- 
ures would  speed  the  liberation  of  his  country  ?  Luckily 
Victor  Emmanuel  found  a  gifted  adviser  in  Count  Cavour, 
and  under  Cavour' s  guidance,  Sardinia  entered,  about  the 
middle  of  the  century,  upon  a  policy  which  led  finally  to 
the  complete  gratification  of  the  national  desires. 

Cavour  argued  simply  that  the  leading  obstacle  to  Ital-  Alliance  of 
ian  unity  was  Austria — Austria,  which  held  Lombardy  and  France  against 
Venice,  and  dictated  her  policy  to  all  the  little  tyrannical  -^^stna. 
princes  of  the  peninsula.  Alone  Sardinia  could  not  defeat 
the  Danubian  Empire  ;  the  year  1848  had  proved  that.  It 
was  therefore  necessary  to  find  an  ally  for  the  inevitable 
future  war.  So  much  being  determined  in  principle,  what 
power  was  it  more  natural  to  appeal  to  than  Napoleon, 
always  on  the  lookout  for  some  opportunity  to  raise  his 
prestige  among  the  nations  of  Europe?  Cautiously  Ca- 
vour sought  the  friendship  of  Napoleon,  and  unfolded 
before  his  eyes  the  role  that  awaited  him  in  Italy.  Napo- 
leon, fascinated  by  the  prospect,  could  not  resist  the  tempt- 
ing opportunity  ;  in  the  year  1858  he  and  Victor  Emman- 
uel formed  a  close  alliance.  When  Austria,  guessing  the 
purport  of  the  alliance,  ordered  Sardinia  to  disarm,  and  on 
her  prompt  refusal  occupied  her  territory,  the  war  which 
Cavour  so  ardently  desired  broke  out  (spring,  1859). 

The  real  campaign  did  not  begin  till  June,  1859,  "Snd  The  Italian 
then  was  over  in  a  few  weeks.  By  the  two  great  victories  ^^^°  ^  "^^' 
of  Magenta  and  Solferino,  the  French  and  the  Sardinians 
drove  the  Austrians  back  from  the  Lombard  plain  into  the 
strongholds  of  the  Quadrilateral.  Italy  was  ablaze  with 
bonfires;  Napoleon  evoked,  wherever  he  appeared,  a  bound- 
less enthusiasm.  But  just  as  everybody  was  expecting  that 
he  would  now  finish  the  good  work  by  driving   the  Aus- 


376 


Modern  Europe 


Sardinia  ac- 
quires Lom- 
bardy. 


Why  Napo- 
leon aban- 
doned the  war. 


trians  completely  across  the  Alps,  he  suddenly  turned 
round,  and,  without  consulting  the  Sardinians,  signed  a 
truce  with  the  enemy.  Victor  Emmanuel  was  furious,  but 
could  do  nothing.  In  the  peace  which  followed  he  got 
Lombardy  as  his  share  in  the  victory,  but  had  to  leave 
Venetia  in  the  hands  of  the  Austrians.  Napoleon  in  return 
for  his  services  obtained  from  Sardinia  the  cession  of  Nice 
and  Savoy. 

A  large  number  of  causes  had  conspired  to  determine 
Napoleon  to  abandon  the  war.  He  had  won  his  measure 
of  glory ;  why  endanger  what  he  had  won  in  new  encoun- 
ters ?  That  was  one  consideration  ;  another,  no  less  im- 
portant, was  the  unexpected  development  in  the  heart  of 
Italy.  The  great  national  war  with  Austria  having  aroused 
all  the  small  states  of  the  north  to  a  frenzy  of  patriotism, 
Tuscany,  Modena,  and  even  the  northern  provinces  of  the 
Papal  States  overthrew  their  governments,  and  announced 
their  resolution  to  be  annexed  to  Sardinia  -  Piedmont. 
What  could  Victor  Emmanuel  do  but  accept  the  offer  with 
thanks?  Thus  Sardinia-Piedmont  acquired  at  a  stroke  the 
whole  north  of  Italy.  But  this  was  more  than  had  been 
bargained  for  in  the  original  alliance  between  France  and 
Sardinia ;  Napoleon,  who  had  entered  the  war  only  to 
weaken  Austria,  suddenly  saw  looming  before  his  eyes  the 
probability  of  a  strong  and  dangerous  rival  on  his  south- 
eastern frontier.  A  too  powerful  Italy  was  just  as  little 
desirable  as  a  too  powerful  Austria.  He  therefore  resolved 
to  desist  from  further  strengthening  Sardinia,  and  leaving 
Austria  in  possession  of  Venetia,  and  taking  Nice  and 
Savoy  for  himself,  he  departed  hurriedly  for  Paris. 

But  the  first  step  in  the  unification  of  Italy  had  been 
taken,  and  the  process  once  begun  was  not  likely  to  be 
interrupted.  In  fact,  Victor  Emmanuel  and  Cavour,  with 
the  whole  north  in  their  hands,  now  considered  themselves 


France   Under  Napoleon  III.  377 

strong  enough  to  do  something  on  their  own  account. 
They  permitted  General  Garibaldi,  the  bold  leader  of  vol- 
unteers, to  fit  out  a  small  expedition  for  the  conquest  of  the 
kingdom  of  Naples.  In  May,  i860,  Garibaldi  proceeded  Garibaldi  con- 
by  sea,  with  an  escort  of  only  1,000  men,  to  Sicily.  The  i86o. 
expedition,  one  of  the  most  hazardous  in  history,  reads 
like  a  mediaeval  book  of  chivalry.  Sicily  was  conquered  at 
a  rush  ;  Garibaldi,  the  liberator,  had  only  to  appear,  and 
the  tyrannical  government  of  the  Bourbon  king  of  Naples, 
whom  everybody  hated,  fell  to  pieces.  In  the  summer, 
Garibaldi  crossed  to  the  mainland.  Here  too,  as  in  Sicily, 
he  met  with  a  fervid  reception  ;  finally,  in  September,  he 
entered  the  city  of  Naples,  and  the  Bourbon  king,  Francis 
II.,  having  fled  in  terror  from  his  capital,  was  declared 
deposed  and  his  country  annexed  to  Sardinia. 

Meanwhile  the  patriotic  agitation  had  seized  the  neigh-   The  States  of 
boring  Papal  States.     All  the  papal  provinces,  except  the  except  Rome, 
territory   immediately   about  Rome  which   was   held    by  sardiLla^"^ 
French  troops,  followed   the  example  of  the  kingdom  of 
Naples,  and  declared  for  Victor  Emmanuel  and  Sardinia. 
Thus  in  the  autumn  of  i860  the  king  found  himself  master 
of  the  south  as  well  as  qf  the  north.      Conservative  Europe 
was  alarmed  at  this  astounding  development  of  Italy,  but 
dared  not  interfere. 

Italy  was  now  complete  but  for  Venetia  in  the  north- 
east, held  by  Austria,  and  Rome,  in  the  centre,  held  by  the 
Pope  with  the  assistance  of  the  French.  For  Garibaldi 
to  attack  either  of  these  two  provinces  meant  a  declaration 
of  war  against  a  great  power,  and  Victor  Emmanuel  and 
Cavour  wisely  decided  that  they  were  not  yet  ready  for 
such  an  undertaking.  They  therefore  resolved  to  consol- 
idate first  what  they  had  got,  and  bide  their  time.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  February,  1861,  there  met  at  Turin,  the 
capital  of  Piedmont,  the  first  general  Italian  Parliament. 


378 


Modern  Europe 


Victor  Em- 
manuel be- 
comes king  of 
Italy,  1861. 


The  king 
adopts  a  wait- 
ing policy. 


The  war  of 
1866. 


Italy  acquires 
Venice. 


Italy  acquires 
Rome,  1870. 


It  was  a  proud  moment  for  Italy  when  the  king  in  his 
opening  speech  recounted  the  auspicious  events  of  the  past 
years,  and  then,  in  obedience  to  the  wishes  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, assumed  the  style  of  king  of  Italy. 

Of  course  the  hot-blooded  Garibaldi,  backed  by  a  con- 
siderable party  of  patriots,  urged  tjje  government  to  take 
Rome  and  Venice  by  an  immediate  war.  But  the  king 
and  his  minister  Cavour  would  not  hear  of  this  advice,  and 
even  after  the  king's  great  counsellor  had  died  (June, 
1861),  Victor  Emmanuel  clung  to  awaiting  policy.  And 
in  the  end  it  bore  its  fruits. 

In  the  year  1866  there  broke  out  the  long-threatening 
war  between  the  two  German  powers,  Austria  and  Prussia. 
That  was  a  legitimate  opportunity  for  Italy.  Italy  and 
Prussia  straightway  formed  a  close  alliance,  and  together 
proceeded  to  attack  Austria  from  the  north  and  south. 
Although  the  Italian  part  of  the  joint  campaign  was  very 
unfortunate,  the  Italian  army  being  defeated  at  Custozza 
(June),  and  the  Italian  fleet  even  more  signally  off"  Lissa, 
in  the  Adriatic  (July),  the  great  Prussian  victory  of  Sadowa 
made  good  these  Italian  calamities,  and  forced  Austria  to 
sign  a  peace  at  the  dictation  of  the  allies.  Venetia,  the 
last  Austrian  foothold  south  of  the  Alps,  accordingly  be- 
came a  part  of  Italy,  and  in  November,  1866,  Victor  Em- 
manuel made  his  triumphal  entry  into  the  City  of  the 
Lagoons. 

Rome  alone  now  remained  to  be  won.  And  if  the 
Romans  had  been  left  free  to  choose,  there  is  no  doubt  what 
course  they  would  have  pursued.  But  Napoleon's  troops 
held  the  city  for  the  Pope,  and  neither  the  Romans  nor 
Victor  Emmanuel  dared  encourage  a  revolution  in  the 
papal  capital  out  of  fear  of  provoking  a  French  war.  At 
length  patience,  here  as  in  the  case  of  Venice,  brought  the 
due  reward.     On  the  outbreak,  in  1 870,  of  the  great  Franco- 


France  Under  Napoleon  III.  379 

German  War,  Napoleon  saw  himself  reduced  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  recalling  his  Roman  troops  in  order  to  put 
them  into  the  field  against  Germany.  Immediately  Victor 
Emmanuel,  disembarrassed  of  the  French,  marched  his 
army  to  the  gates  of  Rome,  and  seized  the  city  (September, 
1870).  The  Pope  protested  clamorously,  but  in  spite  of 
his  uncompromising  attitude  was  not  disturbed  by  the 
victorious  Italians  in  his  quarter  of  the  Vatican.  There 
he  has  since  resided,  but  the  glorious  City  of  the  Seven 
Hills,  definitely  lost  to  him,  became,  as  the  great  majority 
of  the  nation  ardently  desired,  the  capital  of  the  reborn 
Italian  state. 


CHAPTER   VII 


THE   UNIFICATION    OF   GERMANY 


The  lesson  of 
the  year  1848. 


William 
builds  his 
plans  on  a 
strong  army. 


The  year  1848  seemed  on  a  superficial  view  to  have 
passed  over  Germany  without  any  results.  A  careful  in- 
vestigation, however,  would  reveal  that  that  was  not  quite 
the  case.  It  was  a  real  gain,  for  instance,  that  Prussia,  by 
adopting  a  constitution  (1849),  had  completed  the  victory 
of  constitutionalism  in  Germany,  and  it  was  a  cause  for 
congratulation  that  the  national  spirit  had,  at  least  for 
a  moment,  commanded  all  hearts.  Henceforth,  patriotic 
aspirations  could  in  no  event  be  entirely  smothered.  But 
it  was  also  undeniable  that  the  national  aspirations  would 
have  to  be  realized  by  more  practical  measures  than  the 
paper  resolutions  of  the  popular  Parliament  at  Frankfurt ; 
they  would  have  to  be  realized  by  an  organized  force.  So 
at  least  argued  William  of  Prussia,  who  in  the  year  1858 
succeeded  ^  his  brother,  Frederick  William  IV. 

WiUiam  was  a  practical,  soldierly  gentleman,  quite  the 
opposite  of  his  romantic,  ineffective  brother.  He  had  hardly 
arrived  at  power  when  he  resolved  to  create  a  strong  army. 
Let  there  be  a  strong  army,  and  Prussia  would  be  ready 
for  emergencies,  as  she  had  not  been  when  Austria  had 
forced  her,  in  1850,  to  give  up  her  plans  for  the  unity  of 
Germany. 

But  in  his  attempt  to  fashion  a  strong  army,  the  sover- 
eign stumbled  upon  an  obstacle.     The  liberal  majority  in 


'  William  was  at  first  only  regent  for  his  brother  ;  he  became  king  in 
i86i. 

380 


The   Unification  of  Germany  381 

the  Prussian  Diet  objected  to  the  army  expenditures,  and   Trouble 
refused  to  authorize  them.     Therefore  there  now  ensued  a  king  and 
sharp  conflict  between  the  king  and  the  legislature.     But   ^^sisiature. 
the  king  was  a  soldier  without  fear ;  the  reform  which  he 
knew  to  be  good  he  was  determined  to  carry  out  in  spite 
of  his  Diet,  and,  therefore,  in  the  year  1862,  he  called  to 
his  support  as  prime-minister  a  resolute  adherent  of  roy-   Bismarck, 
alty.  Otto  von  Bismarck. 

Bismarck  was  a  Prussian  squire  who,  holding  by  nature 
and  training  extremely  conservative  views,  had  in  a  varied 
diplomatic  career  acquired  gradually  a  true  statesman's 
vision.  His  political  programme  in  its  final  form  was  :  To 
support  the  king's  plan  of  a  strong  army  ;  to  put  Austria  out 
of  Germany ;  and,  finally,  to  gather  the  other  German 
states  around  Prussia  as  their  head,  and  thus  unify  the 
nation. 

This  programme  was,  of  course,  concealed  in  Bismarck's  Circum- 
breast,  for  it  would  never  do  publicly  to  affront  Austria.  Bisniarck. 
The  only  part  of  the  programme  which  was  made  known — 
the  strong  army — aroused  a  more  and  more  violent  oppo- 
sition, and  Bismarck's  name  soon  became  a  word  with 
which  Prussian  mothers  frightened  their  children.  Thus 
things  were  going  from  bad  to  worse,  and  everybody  was 
expecting  an  early  revolution  in  Prussia,  when  there  oc- 
curred a  number  of  events  which,  luckily  for  the  prime- 
minister,  drew  the  attention  of  the  people  away  from  internal 
affairs,  and  furnished  him  with  an  opportunity  to  proceed  to 
the  realization  of  his  national  ideas. 

In  the  year  1863  occurred  the  long-expected  death  of  The  second 
Frederick  VII.,  king  of  Denmark.    He  was  succeeded,  with   Schieswig- 
the  acquiescence  of  all  the  European  pewers,  by  his  relative,    ^g^^^^^"' 
Christian    IX.      Christian    IX.  was   at  first  recognized  in 
Schleswig-Holstein  also,  but  when  he  ventured  to  publish 
a  constitution  by  which  he  incorporated  the  northernmost 


382 


Modern  Europe 


The 

Schleswig- 
Holstein 
war,  1864. 


Bismarck 
quarrels  with 
Austria  over 
the  division  of 
Schleswig- 
Holstein. 


Meaning  of 
the  war  of 
1866. 


duchy,  Schleswig,  directly  with  Denmark,  he  was  straight- 
way repudiated  by  the  whole  German  population  of  the 
two  provinces.  Of  course  all  Germany  was  greatly  agitated 
in  behalf  of  its  Schleswig-Holstein  brothers,  and,  as  in 
1848,  threatened  a  national  war  against  Denmark.  Taking 
advantage  of  the  situation  Bismarck  now  persuaded  Austria 
to  associate  herself  with  Prussia,  in  order  that  the  Danish 
difficulties  might  be  settled  in  an  orderly  way.  Accord- 
ingly, in  January,  1864,  Prussian  and  Austrian  troops  en- 
tered the  duchies  side  by  side.  In  a  quick  campaign  Den- 
mark was  disarmed,  and  in  October  she  saw  herself  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  ceding  Schleswig  and  Holstein  to  the 
victors. 

Now  that  Prussia  and  Austria  possessed  the  duchies,  the 
question  was  how  to  divide  the  spoils.  Of  course  the  di- 
vision turned  out,  to  Bismarck's  great  delight,  a  difficult 
matter.  Austria  not  being  wiUing  to  give  up  her  position 
in  Germany,  the  Prussian  prime-minister  had  long  been 
planning  to  make  her  give  it  up  by  force,  and  here  was  the 
Schleswig-Holstein  booty,  the  very  matter  over  which  to 
pick  a  plausible  quarrel.  A  long  wrangle,  carefully  nursed 
by  Bismarck,  was  accompanied  with  steady  preparations 
for  war.  Finally,  in  the  spring  of  1866,  Prussia  signed  a 
close  alliance  with  Italy,  while  Austria,  for  her  part,  strove 
to  get  the  support  of  the  smaller  German  states.  And  owing 
to  the  fact  that  Bismarck's  policy  of  aggrandizement  had 
aroused  in  Germany  a  general  fear  of  upstart  Prussia,  almost 
all  the  southern  and  central  states  now  actually  placed  them- 
selves under  the  wings  of  the  older  and  more  conservative 
German  power. 

These  dispositions  made — Prussia  having  secured  the 
support  of  Italy,  and  Austria  the  alliance  of  Bavaria,  Sax- 
ony, and  most  of  the  other  German  states — in  June,  1866, 
the   two   apparently    well-matched   combatants    took    the 


The  Unification  of  Germany  383 

field.  The  contest  was  the  culmination  of  the  rivalry,  in- 
augurated over  a  hundred  years  ago,  at  the  time  of  Freder- 
ick the  Great  and  Maria  Theresa ;  the  prize  of  the  winner 
was  to  be  the  supremacy  in  Germany. 

A  part  of  the  Prussian  army  had  to  be  detached  against  Disposition  of 
the  South  German  states;  to  counterbalance  this  loss,  a  ^  ^^^^^* 
part  of  the  Austrian  army  had  to  be  left  in  Venetia  to  oper- 
ate against  the  Italians.  Weakened  only  by  these  minor 
subtractions  from  their  force,  the  Austrians  and  Prussians, 
massed  in  two  great  armies,  made  ready  to  meet  each  other 
in  Bohemia.  This  meeting,  it  was  evident,  would  decide 
the  war. 

Now  it  was  seen  that  King  William's  plan  of  a  strong  Sadowa,  July 
and  modern  army  had  its  merits.  The  Prussians  were  ready  ^" 
sooner  than  the  Austrians,  and  showed  themselves  to  be  much 
better  armed  and  disciplined.  By  the  admirable  arrange- 
ments of  the  great  strategist,  Moltke,  three  Prussian  col- 
umns were  made  to  converge  upon  the  Austrians,  and  en- 
closing them  at  Sadowa,  in  Bohemia,  on  July  3,  as  in  a 
vise,  crushed  them  utterly.  The  war  had  hardly  begun 
when  it  was  over.  It  was  of  little  consequence  that  the 
Austrians  in  Italy  defeated  the  Italians  at  Custozza  or  that 
the  Prussians  defeated  the  South  Germans.  Austria  proper 
lay  at  the  feet  of  Prussia,  and  had  to  make  peace.  A  truce 
in  July  was  followed  in  August,  1866,  by  the  definitive 
Peace  of  Prague. 

By  the  Peace  of  Prague  Austria  accepted  her  exclusion   Prussia  makes 
from  Germany,  and  agreed  to  any  reconstruction  of  Ger-   Srirand 
many  which  Prussia  should  carry  out.     Territorially  she  S'^rm'^^^t 
was  not  heavily  punished :    she  had  to  cede  Venetia  to 
Italy,  and  her   share   in    Schlcswig-Holstein    to    Prussia. 
These  arrangements  made,  Bismarck   proceeded    to  make 
peace  with  the  German  allies  of  Austria.     Bavaria,  Wur- 
temberg,  and  the  South  German  states  in  general  were  let 


384  Modern  Europe 


off  with  a  money  fine,  but  most  of  the  hostile  North  Ger- 
man states,  as  for  example,  Hanover  and  Nassau,  were  in- 
corporated with  Prussia. 
Bismarck  Then  Bismarck  proceeded  to  replace  the  old  Bund  by  an 

NoTth  German  effective  central  government.  He  formed  among  the  states 
Uon^^'^^'^^"  ^*^^^^  oi\kiQ  river  Main,  the  North  German  Confederation, 
with  Prussia  at  its  head.  With  wise  moderation,  he  made 
no  effort  to  force  the  South  German  states  into  the  new 
union  ;  they  were,  for  the  most  part.  Catholic  and  opposed 
to  Protestant  Prussia ;  then  they  had  just  been  defeated  in 
a  bitter  civil  war.  Let  time  moderate  their  rancor,  and 
they  would  feel  irresistibly  the  attraction  of  the  new  na- 
tional state.  So  Bismarck  argued,  and  the  event  proved 
that  he  was  right.  From  1866  to  1870,  Germany,  therefore, 
consisted  of  two  distinct  parts — a  strong  united  north  un- 
der the  leadership  of  Prussia,  and  a  feeble  south  of  the  four 
detached  states,  Bavaria,  Wurtemberg,  Baden,  and  Hesse. 
Then  there  happened  something  which  spontaneously 
brought  the  two  parts  together,  and  completed  the  unifi- 
cation of  Germany  :  France  declared  war  and  threatened 
Germany  with  invasion. 
\  1  he  decline  ©f  We  met  the  Emperor  Napoleon  last  in  the  Italian  cam- 
apoeon  .  p^jgj^  ^f  1859.  That  campaign  marks  the  zenith  of  his 
life.  From  1859  on  he  entered  upon  a  steady  decline. 
Meddling  and  ambitious,  he  still  continued  to  interfere  in 
the  affairs  of  all  the  world,  but  he  no  longer  prospered. 
His  occupation  of  Rome  lost  him  his  popularity  among  the 
Italians.  Then  in  an  evil  hour  he  turned  his  desires  upon 
the  New  World.  He  was  led  to  interfere  in  the  internal 
The  Mexican  affairs  of  Mexico,  and  finding  that  that  republic  made  but 
a  feeble  resistance,  he  overturned  it,  and  set  up  an  empire 
under  the  archduke  Maximilian,  brother  of  the  emperor 
of  Austria.  It  is  difficult  to  see  what  advantage  lay  in  all 
this  for  France  or  even  for  Napoleon  himself;  perhaps  he 


muddle. 


The   Unification  of  Germany  385 

took  it  to  be  enough  that  the  expedition  kept  his  name  be- 
fore the  world.  The  Emperor  MaximiHan  landed  in  Mex- 
ico in  1864.  It  was  the  time  of  the  great  American  Civil 
War,  and  the  United  States,  thoroughly  embarrassed  within, 
was  little  inclined  at  first  to  interfere  with  Napoleon's  proj- 
ect. But  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  dearly  cherished  by  all 
Americans,  had  been  flagrantly  set  aside  by  the  French 
invasion,  and  as  soon  as  the  Civil  War  was  over,  Secretary 
Seward  gave  Napoleon  to  understand  that  he  must  with- 
draw immediately.  Napoleon  shuffled  a  while,  but  did  not 
have  the  courage  to  refuse  in  the  end.  The  French  sailed 
for  Europe,  and  Maximilian,  deserted  by  his  allies,  was 
captured  and  shot  (1867).  Thereupon  the  Mexicans  re- 
established their  republic. 

The  shame  of  this  disgraceful  ending  was  not  the  worst  France  grows 
feature  about  the  Mexican  adventure.  Owing  to  the  ab-  PmssiL° 
sence  of  the  best  French  troops  in  the  New  World,  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  could  exercise  no  influence  on  the  issue 
of  the  Austro-Prussian  War  of  1866.  Thus  it  happened 
that  Prussia  came  out  of  the  war  with  a  greatly  increased 
territory,  but  France  won  from  the  embarrassment  of 
the  German  powers  nothing  whatever.  Now  the  French 
having  for  centuries  entertained  the  hope  of  extending 
their  territory  to  the  Rhine,  were  angry  with  Napoleon 
for  having  missed  the  opportunity  off*ered  by  the  Austro- 
Prussian  War  to  gain  that  end.  More  and  more  pas- 
sionately public  opinion  began  to  clamor  for  some  ter- 
ritorial increase  to  offset  the  growth  of  Prussia.  Conse- 
quently the  relations  between  France  and  Prussia  became 
gradually  worse.  A  little  incident  sufficed  to  precipitate 
war. 

The  Spanish  throne  happening  in  the  year  1870   to  be  The  Spanish 
vacant,  the. Cortes — that  is,  the  Spanish  Parliament — offered   i^jo.^" 
the  throne  to  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern.     As  this 


386 


Modern  Europe 


South  Ger- 
many on  the 
side  of  Prussia. 


The  Germans 
better  pre- 
pared. 


The  German 
victories. 


prince  was  a  relative  of  King  William  of  Prussia,  the  can- 
didature caused  great  excitement  at  Paris.  Largely  on 
this  account,  Leopold  withdrew  ;  but  Napoleon,  not  sat- 
isfied with  the  withdrawal  pure  and  simple,  wanted  a 
promise  from  King  William  that  he  would  never  permit 
Leopold  to  be  a  candidate  in  the  future.  This  demand 
King  William  curtly  rejected.  Thereupon  Napoleop, 
with  the  full  consent  of  his  legislature,  declared  war  (July 
19,  1870). 

The  advantages  in  the  struggle  which  now  ensued  were, 
from  the  beginning,  on  the  side  of  Prussia;  first,  in  the 
matter  of  allies.  Napoleon  had  hoped  that  the  South 
German  states  would,  out  of  hatred  of  Prussia,  side  with 
him.  But  in  Germany's  hour  of  need,  they  thought  only 
of  their  national  duty,  and  freely  put  their  forces  under 
the  command  of  the  Prussian  king.  Not  Prussia  merely, 
but  for  the  first  time  in  centuries  a  united  Germany 
marched  to  meet  the  German  foe. 

A  further  advantage  to  Prussia  and  her  German  allies 
was  that  they  were  ready  sooner  than  the  enemy,  and  when 
ready,  mustered  a  greater  army.  The  Germans,  directed 
by  the  skilful  Moltke,  were,  in  consequence,  enabled  not 
only  to  carry  the  war  into  French  territory,  but  also  to 
attack  the  French  with  a  superior  force. 

The  German  forces  assembled  on  the  frontier  in  three 
divisions,  and  in  the  beginning  of  August  invaded  France. 
On  August  6  the  Crown  Prince  Frederick  of  Prussia 
came  up  with  the  army  of  Marshal  MacMahon  at  Worth, 
and  defeated  it  so  roundly  that  it  had  to  abandon  Alsace. 
The  second  French  army,  stationed  in  Lorraine,  thereupon 
fell  back  on  the  great  fortress  Metz.  But  as  the  army  was 
in  danger  of  being  surrounded  there,  Bazaine,  its  com- 
mander, resolved,  in  the  middle  of  August,  to  retreat  in 
the  direction  of  Paris.     This  rearward  movement  Moltke 


The   Unification  of  Germany  387 

was  determined  at  any  cost  to  hinder.  In  a  series  of 
bloody  battles,  culminating,  on  August  18,  in  the  murder- 
ous encounter  of  Gravelotte,  the  French  were  defeated, 
tumbled  back  into  Metz,  and  there  blockaded.  One-half 
of  the  German  forces  was  now  detailed  for  the  investment 
of  Metz,  while  the  other  half  pushed  westward  to  find  Mac-  The  surrender 
Mahon,  who  having  recovered  from  his  defeat  at  Worth,  tembe?2,' 1870" 
was  coming  on  to  help  Bazaine. 

At  Sedan,  on  September  i,  MacMahon's  forces  once 
more  met  the  Germans,  and  on  the  next  day,  seeing  that 
resistance  was  hopeless,  the  whole  French  force  surren- 
dered. Then  only  it  became  known  to  the  Germans  that 
Napoleon  himself  was  with  his  army;  he  was  sent  to  Ger- 
many as  a  prisoner,  and  the  second  French  Empire  came  to 
an  end. 

Thus  far  the  campaign  had  been  admirably  managed  on  The  invest- 
the  part  of  Moltke.  The  war  had  hardly  lasted  a  month,  ^^  p^ns. 
and  one  French  army  was  locked  up  in  Metz,  while  the 
second  and  remaining  army,  with  the  emperor  at  its  head, 
had  even  been  captured.  All  that  seemed  to  remain  was 
to  march  to  Paris  and  dictate  terms  of  peace.  Accordingly, 
a  German  army  of  200,000  men  marched  westward,  and 
toward  the  end  of  September  undertook  the  investment  of 
the  French  capital. 

Meanwhile,  important  things  had  happened  in  the  capital  The  Third 
of  France.  The  calamity  of  Sedan  was  hardly  known  when  ^^" 
the  whole  city  of  Paris  rose  in  indignation  against  the  luck- 
less imperial  government.  The  Empress  Eugenie  was 
driven  from  her  palace,  and  France  declared  a  Republic 
(September  4).^  At  the  same  time,  a  number  of  men,  the 
most  prominent  of  whom  was  Gambetta,  set  up  for   the 


1  The  Republic  of  September  4  is  known  generally  as  the  Third  Re- 
public. The  First  Republic  was  proclaimed  in  1792  and  destroyed  by 
Napoleon;  the  Second  Republic  belongs  to  the  period  1848-51  ;  and  the 
Third  Republic  of  1870.  the  most  long-lived  of  all,  exists  to  this  day  (1898). 


388 


Modern  Europe 


Capitulation  of 
Paris,  followed 
by  peace. 


King  William 
becomes  Ger- 
man Emperor, 
January  i8. 


The  constitu- 
tion of  the 
new  empire. 


purpose  of  effectively  prosecuting  the  war,  the  Government 
of  the  National  Defense. 

The  siege  of  Paris  marks  the  last  stage  of  the  war.  If 
the  Germans  entertained  the  hope  of  settling  things  in  a 
few  weeks,  they  were  greatly  mistaken.  Gambetta  made  a 
most  active  and  honorable  resistance,  but  his  raw  levies 
were  no  match,  in  the  long  run,  for  the  disciplined  soldiers 
of  Germany.  On  January  28,  1871,  Paris,  disheartened 
by  the  surrender  of  Metz  (October),  and  reduced  to  the 
last  extremes  of  misery  and  hunger,  capitulated,  and  the 
war  was  over.  France  had  to  buy  peace  from  her  enemies 
by  paying  a  war  indemnity  of  one  billion  dollars,  and  by 
ceding  to  them  the  provinces  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  In- 
March  the  Germans  began  the  evacuation  of  the  French 
territory. 

But  it  was  not  the  old  divided  fatherland  to  which  the 
German  soldiers  returned.  The  great  victories,  won  by  the 
united  efforts  of  north  and  south,  filled  all  hearts  with  en- 
thusiasm. The  feeling  imperatively  possessing  all  that  it 
would  be  criminal  to  return  from  the  triumphs  of  Sedan 
and  Paris  without  a  pledge  of  lasting  unity,  the  princes  of 
the  smaller  states  requested  King  William  of  Prussia  to  as- 
sume the  title  of  German  Emperor.  On  January  18,  187 1, 
the  new  dignity  was  proclaimed  to  the  world  from  the 
Salle  des  Glaces  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth's  palace  of  Ver- 
sailles. 

About  the  same  time  there  was  completed  and  published 
a  constitution  for  the  new  German  Empire.  This  consti- 
tution is  merely  the  constitution  of  the  North  German  Con- 
federation, so  enlarged  as  to  embrace  the  South  Germans. 
By  virtue  of  the  new  instrument  Germany  was  organized 
as  a  federal  government  like  the  United  States  of  America. 
The  constitution  recognizes  twenty-five  states  of  various 
size.     The  governments  of  these  twenty-five  send  delegates 


The  Unification  of  Germany  389 

to  an  upper  house,  called  the  Bundesrath,  while  the  people 
elect,  on  the  basis  of  direct  and  universal  suffrage,  the  mem- 
bers of  a  second  house,  called  the  Reichstag.  Bundesrath 
and  Reichstag  together  make  the  laws ;  the  king  of  Prus- 
sia, in  his  capacity  of  German  Emperor  and  head  of  the 
confederation,  executes  them.  Bismarck,  the  great  builder 
of  the  German  state-structure,  became  the  first  Chancellor 
of  the  Empire. 

In  March  the  emperor  met  his  first  Reichstag.     Emperor  Germany 

/.        -.  1        1  1  •  •  1  n  again  a  great 

and  people  faced  each  other  on  that  occasion  with  tears  of  power, 
thanksgiving  in  their  eyes,  both  equally  happy  over  the 
issue  of  the  great  war  which  had  finally  restored  to  the 
German  people  the  unity  and  strength  lost  far  back  in  the 
Middle  Age. 

France,  in  the  months  immediately  following  the  Ger-  The  riots  of 

the  Commune, 

man  evacuation,  went  through  a  terrible  crisis.  The  Re-  1871. 
public  being  at  that  time  not  yet  fairly  on  its  feet,  and  be- 
ing, moreover,  discredited  with  many  Frenchmen,  because 
of  the  peace  it  had  signed  with  Germany,  the  lawless  ele- 
ments of  Paris  made  an  attempt  to  set  up  a  government  of  , 
their  own,  which  they  called  the  Commune.  The  Com- 
mune actually  acquired  possession  of  the  capital,  and  by 
confiscations,  murders,  and  other  atrocities  maintained  its 
hold  upon  it  for  two  months  (March-May,  187 1).  But 
in  May  the  celebrated  patriot  Thiers,  who  had  been  elected 
temporary  head,  and  later  was  appointed  first  president  of 
the  new  Republic,  having  collected  a  considerable  force 
about  him  at  Versailles,  sent  forth  Marshal  MacMahon  to 
take  the  offensive  against  the  Parisian  revolutionists.  After 
a  long  siege  and  fearful  street-fights,  lasting  a  whole  week, 
the  forces  of  the  Commune  were  shattered  to  pieces.  In 
their  fanatical  hatred  of  the  established  order  of  society, 
they  vowed  that  the  victors  should  possess  only  a  heap  of 
ashes;  while  the  Commune  made  its  last  stand  against  the 


390 


Modern  Europe 


The  upbuild- 
ing of  France, 


The  dual  Em- 
pire of  Austro- 
H  angary. 


national  government,  some  of  its  adherents  fired  the  city. 
Only  the  extreme  devotion  of  the  salvage  corps  rescued 
Paris  from  the  fate  of  Moscow  in  1812.  When  the 
fire  was  at  last  extinguished,  terrible  damage  had  been 
done,  but  no  more  than  two  or  three  great  structures,  such 
as  the  Tuileries  and  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  were  entirely  lost. 
There  followed  a  period  of  arrests  and  executions,  and  then 
France  settled  down  earnestly  to  the  work  of  repairing  the 
fearful  ravages  of  the  war.  The  present  flourishing  condi- 
tion of  the  country  is  a  witness  of  her  success,  and  a  testi- 
mony to  the  strength  of  the  Third  Republic. 

The  rest  of  the  European  powers  had  been  no  more  than 
onlookers  during  the  Franco-German  War.  The  king  of 
Italy  indeed  had  thought  for  a  moment  of  interfering  in 
behalf  of  France,  but  on  consideration  he  determined  to  go 
to  Rome  instead.  The  emperor  of  Austria,  too,  mindful 
of  1866,  was  at  first  half  inclined  to  take  a  hand,  but  for 
various  reasons  he  was  persuaded  to  desist.  Perhaps  pre- 
dominant among  them  was  that  as  his  country  had  just 
been  internally  reorganized,  he  did  not  wish  to  expose  it 
to  the  chances  of  another  war.  The  year  1866  had,  in 
fact,  introduced  an  era  of  reform.  His  terrible  defeat  at 
the  hands  of  Prussia  had  not  passed  over  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  without  results.  He  knew  now  that  he 
must  conciliate  his  various  peoples,  and  establish  a  popular 
government.  The  Hungarians  especially  had  to  be  won 
back  to  the  Hapsburg  allegiance.  In  view  of  their  im- 
portance to  the  state,  Francis  Joseph  was  now  moved  to 
grant  them  valuable  concessions.  He  divided  the  Haps- 
burg dominions  into  an  Austrian  and  a  Hungarian  half, 
and  made  them  independent  of  each  other,  except  for  such 
matters  as  diplomacy  and  war.  At  Vienna,  Francis  Joseph 
would  be  emperor  of  Austria,  at  Budapest,  king  of  Hungary, 
and  in  each  half  of  his  realm,  he  was  to  reign  under  a  sep- 


The   Unification  of  Germany  391 

arate  constitution,  legislature,  and  administration.  This 
dual  empire  of  Austro- Hungary  was  created  in  the  year 
1867.  It  has  proved  a  greater  success  than  could  have 
been  expected.  A  great  danger  to  the  dual  empire,  how- 
ever, arises  from  the  Slavs,  who  are  constantly  demanding 
for  themselves  the  exceptional  position  already  granted 
to  the  Hungarians  :  instead  of  an  empire  of  two  independ- 
ent parts,  they  want  one  of  three  independent  parts. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

GREAT    BRITAIN    IN    THE    NINETEENTH    CENTURY 

Tory  govern-       No  country  had   fought  the  French  Revolution  more 
1815.  bitterly  or  more  persistently  than  Great  Britain.     Naturally 

therefore  when  the  long  war  (i  793-1815),  which  had  in- 
spired the  subjects  of  King  George  III.  with  a  fanatical 
aversion  to  the  French  people  and  to  the  revolutionary  ideas 
which  that  people  represented,  was  once  over,  England, 
like  the  Continent,  entered  upon  a  period  of  reaction.  The 
Tory  party,  led  by  Lord  Castlereagh,  the  duke  of  Wellington, 
and  other  haters  of  innovations,  took  control  of  the  British 
state,  and  directed  it  for  many  years  strictly  in  the  aristo- 
The  begin-  cratic  interest.  But  just  as  the  Continent  of  Europe  bore  the 
reform.  reactionary  yoke  of  Metternich  and  the  Holy  Alliance  un- 

willingly, and  quietly  made  ready  to  throw  it  off,  so  Eng- 
land gradually  roused  herself  from  her  lethargy,  and  prepared 
to  enter  the  road  of  reform.  And  that  there  were  many 
things  imperatively  demanding  reform,  became  clear  as 
daylight  the,  moment  the  idea  had  been  once  admitted. 

Although  the  French  Revolution  had  carried  the  idea  of 
the  equality  of  all  religious  sects  to  the  ends  of  Europe, 
largely  for  the  enlightened  reason  that  this  idea  had  origi- 
nated with  their  enemies,  the  French,  the  English  clung  to 
their  antiquated  views  about  thesui^eriority  of  the  Anglican 
faith.  Most  of  the  ridiculous  provisions  passed  against 
Dissenters  under  Charles  II.  were,  in  spite  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  of 'progress,  still  in  force.  The  Toleration 
Act  of  1689  had  indeed  put  an  end  to  active  persecution  of 

392 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century     393 

dissenting  Protestants,  and  had  established  freedom  of  wor- 
ship, but  the  Test  Act  of  1673  was  as  much  in  vigor  as  ever, 
and  by  its  terms  no  Dissenter  could  hold  any  public  office.^ 
The  injustice  of  this  exclusion  having  been  at  length  brought 
home  to  Parhament,  that  body  was  persuaded,  in  1828,  to 
repeal  the  Test  Act,  and  thereby  finally  make  the  numer-  Repeal  of  the 
ous  bodies  of  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  and  Methodists  full- 
fledged  English  citizens,  as  eligible  to  fill  a  position  of 
public  trust  as  any  Anglican. 

I^  still  remained  to  perform  a  similar  act  of  justice  Relief  of  the 
toward  the  Catholics,  who  were  not  relieved  by  the  repeal 
of  the  Test  Act,  owing  to  a  special  provision  which  was 
no  part  of  the  Test  Act  compeUing  every  office-holder  of 
England  to  abjure  the  Pope.  As  the  English  Catholics 
were  a  very  small  body,  and  were,  moreover,  very  much 
hated  by  Anglicans  and  dissenting  Protestants  alike,  no 
one  was  in  a  hurry  to  do  them  a  favor.  Perhaps  the 
severely  Protestant  Parliament  would  not  have  taken  up 
the  matter  of  the  liberation  of  the  Catholics  at  all,  if  it  had 
not  been  urged  thereto  by  a  dangerous  agitation  stirred 
up  in  Ireland  by  the  patriotic  orator,  Daniel  O'Connell. 
This  hot-blooded  leader  at  length  inspired  the  Catholic 
Irish,  who  for  generations  had  lost  all  interest  in  public 
life,  to  take  a  hand  in  politics,  and  to  begin  by  protesting 
against  the  outrageous  enactments  which  deprived  them,  as 
adherents  of  the  ancient  faith,  of  representation  at  West- 
minster. Wellington  and  his  Tory  friends  were  inclined 
at  first  to  sneer  at  O'Connell's  loud  words  and  threats,  but 
when  the  Iron  Duke  saw  that  Ireland  to  a  man  was  backing 
her  leader,  and  resolute  in  her  demands  to  the  point  of 
revolution,  he  had  the  statesmanlike  sagacity  to  give  in. 


1  The  practice,  it  must  be  granted,  was  not  as  severe  as  the  law.  By 
connivance  of  the  government,  many  Protestant  Dissenters  had  been  per- 
mitted to  hold  office. 


394 


Modern  Europe 


The  spirit  of 
reform  vic- 
torious after 
1830. 


The  Parlia- 
mentary 
abuse. 


He  passed,  in  1829,  the  year  after  the  repeal  of  the  Test 
Act,  a  Catholic  ReUef  Bill,  by  which  Catholics  were  ad- 
mitted to  all  but  the  highest  offices  of  the  realm. 

These  two  liberating  acts  of  1828  and  1829  were  the 
first  breaches  made  in  the  conservative  defences.  But 
other  assaults  were  sure  to  follow,  especially  after  the  suc- 
cessful Parisian  revolution  of  1830  had  given  the  adherents 
of  progress  all  over  Europe  new  courage.  In  fact,  a  Whig 
or  Liberal  ministry  having  displaced  the  Tories  or  Conserv- 
atives in  1830,  the  Parliament  was  bold  enough  to  proceed 
straightway  to  the  most  necessary  of  all  reforms — to  the 
reform  of  its  own  membership. 

The  seats  in  Parliament  were  distributed,  in  the  year 
1830,  in  accordance  with  a  plan  which  had  suffered  no 
material  alteration  for  two  hundred  years.  But  the  last 
two  hundred  years  had  wrought  great  changes  in  the  society 
of  England;  towns  which  had  once  flourished  had  de- 
cayed, mere  villages  had  become  prosperous  towns.  Thus 
it  happened  that  a  number  of  boroughs  which  were  practi- 
cally extinct,  by  old  custom  still  sent  representatives  to 
Parliament.  Such  boroughs  were  justly  denominated 
''rotten,"  because  the  members  who  sat  in  Parliament  in 
their  behalf  were  the  nominees  of  a  mere  handful  of  men, 
nay,  frequently  of  a  single  person.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
great  industrial  towns  of  the  north,  such  as  Manchester, 
Sheffield,  and  Leeds,  had,  because  they  had  only  lately 
risen  to  prominence,  no  representation  whatever.  And  as 
if  to  crown  this  crying  injustice  in  the  apportionment  of 
Parliamentary  seats,  the  right  to  vote  was  reserved  to  a  few 
thousands  of  the  rich.  Thus  it  was  clear  that  the  House  of 
Commons,  as  constituted  in  1830,  had  become  a  mockery; 
it  was  a  shameful  lie  to  claim  that  it  represented  the  Eng- 
lish people. 

The  question  of  Parliamentary  reform,  brought  forward. 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century     395 


by  the  Liberals  in  1830,  involved  them  in  a  severe  conflict 

with   the   Conservatives.      When  a  Reform  Bill  was,  after   The  passage 

heroic  efforts,  at  length   carried  in  the  Commons,  it  was   Reform  Bill, 

immediately  thrown  out  by  the  Lords.     But  so  threaten-   ^^32- 

ing  was  the  attitude  of  the  country  against  the  stubborn 

Tories,  that  the  Lords,  too,  finally  gave  way  (1832).     The 

Reform  Bill  became  a  law ;  the  ' '  rotten  ' '  boroughs  were 

disfranchised,  and  the  members,  whom  they  had  elected, 

were  assigned  to  the  large  towns.     At  the  same  time  the 

right  to  vote  was  extended  to  additional  classes  of  citizens. 

The  Reform  Bill  of  1832  may  be  said  to  have  trans-  The  second 
ferred  the  power  in  England  to  the  middle  class.  But  it  Reform  Bills 
did  nothing  for  the  industrial  and  farming  classes.  Sooner 
or  later,  such  was  the  levelling  tendency  of  the  age,  these 
would  have  to  be  admitted  to  a  share  in  the  government. 
It  was  because  the  men  in  power  in  England  understood 
the  movements  of  their  time,  and  did  not  stiffly  set  them- 
selves against  concessions  to  the  rising  elements,  that  Eng- 
land was  spared  the  internal  revolutions  suffered  by  every 
country  of  the  Continent.  As  the  practical  need  arpse, 
Parliament,  from  time  to  time,  extended  the  franchise  ;  by 
two  additional  reform  bills — the  one  of  1867,  the  other  of 
1884 — it  has  rounded  off  the  Act  of  1832,  and  given  the 
right  to  vote  to  such  numbers,  that  England  may  almost  be 
said  to  maintain  at  present  the  system  of  universal  suffrage. 

Hand  in  hand  with  these  Parliamentary  reforms  have 
gone  a  great  number  of  others  affecting  almost  every  branch 
of  the  public  service.  Perhaps  the  most  important  is  the 
repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws.  The  Corn  Laws  were  intended  Repeal  of  the 
to  protect  the  land-holding  class,  who,  of  course,  are  the  1846. 
aristocracy,  by  means  of  a  large  duty  upon  grain.  ^  Nat- 
urally that  duty,  by  raising  the  price  of  bread,  fell  heavily 

1  The  word  "  corn,"  as  used  in  England,  embraces  all  kinds  of  grain. 
Corn  Laws  mean  Grain  Laws. 


l^ 


Modern  Europe 


England 
adopts  free 
trade. 


The  Irish 
problem. 


The  two  pres- 
ent griev- 
ances. 


upon  the  English  laborer.  After  a  long  educational  cam- 
paign, headed  by  the  economist,  Richard  Cobden,  the 
Corn  Laws  were  repealed  (1846),  and  with  them  the  whole 
system  of  protection  was  dropped.  In  lieu  of  it,  England 
adopted  the  system  of  free  trade,  under  which  she  has  tre- 
mendously extended  her  commercial  relations  with  the 
whole  world. 

Although  the  policy  of  sensible  reform  has  removed  most 
of  the  internal  difficulties  which  have  arisen  in  Great  Brit- 
ain during  the  nineteenth  century,  one  problem  remains 
as  perplexing  and  hopeless  at  the  end  of  the  century  as 
at  the  beginning.  The  name  of  that  problem  is  Ireland. 
We  have  seen  that  the  British  Parliament  had  not  re- 
mained blind  to  all  the  various  forms  of  Irish  misery ;  by 
the  Catholic  Relief  Bill  of  1829  the  Catholic  Irish  had  at 
length  been  admitted  to  office.  A  benefit  along  the  same 
line  was  conferred  when,  in  the  year  1868,  the  abominated 
Protestant  Episcopal  organization,  which  the  Irish  had 
been  obliged  to  call  their  national  Church,  and  had  had  to 
support  though  they  would  not  attend  it,  was  deprived  of 
its  privileges. 

But  these  religious  grievances  of  the  Irish,  it  was  com- 
paratively easy  for  Parliament  to  settle  in  an  age  of  in- 
creasing tolerance.  For  two  other  grievances,  however, 
far  more  injurious  to  the  welfare  of  the  Irish  people,  it  has 
been  impossible,  in  spite  of  laudable  efforts,  to  find  a 
remedy.  Both  grievances  are  not  of  to-day  or  yesterday, 
but  are  historical.  Owing  to  the  confiscations  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  Irish  soil  is,  for  the  most  part, 
in  the  hands  of  a  few  hundred  English  landlords,  the 
Irish  themselves  being  mere  tenants  and  day- laborers;  fur- 
thermore, Ireland,  since  the  Act  of  Union  of  1801,  is 
ruled  in  all  respects  by  England,  and  is  permitted  not  so 
much  as  a  shadow  of  self-government. 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century     397 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  efforts  of  the  Irish  party   The  efforts  of 

in  the  House  of  Commons  have  been  directed  toward  two   pa^y"  backed 

aims :   First,  to  enable   the   Irish  tenants  to  acquire  from   ^^.^^  English 
'  ^  Liberals. 

the  English  landlords  the  ownership  of  the  land  they  till ; 
and  secondly,  to  secure  for  the  Irish  an  Irish  Parliament  at 
Dublfn,  with  power  to  manage  local  affairs  very  much  like 
an  American  state-legislature.  Although  the  great  Liberal 
party,  inspired  by  kindly  feelings  and  desirous  of  ending  , 
the  ancient  feud  between  Irish  and  English,  has  partially 
pledged  itself,  chiefly  at  the  instigation  of  its  greatest  leader 
in  this  century,  William  Gladstone,  to  help  the  Irish  achieve 
the  above  programme,  and  although  several  Land  Acts 
have  been  passed  for  the  relief  of  the  Irish  tenants,  and  a 
Home  Rule  Bill  has  frequently  been  debated  ^  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  the  Irish  are  still  far  from  being  satisfied,  and 
the  thorny  Irish  problem  is  as  far  removed  as  ever  from  ad- 
justment. 

No  sketch  of  the  development  of  England  in  the  nine-  England  a 
teenth  century  can  afford  to  leave  out  of  account  her  mar-  ^o^d-empire. 
vellous  colonial  expansion.  In  fact,  England  is  now  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  world-empire,  of  which  the  little 
mother-country  is  merely  the  heart,  the  seat  of  vitality, 
while  Canada,  India,  South  Africa,  and  Australia  are  the 
limbs  and  body  which  she  feeds  with  her  energy.  This 
expansion  of  England  over  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe 
has  brought  with  it  immeasurable  benefits.  Above  all,  it 
has  created  that  vast  trade  through  which  has  been  amassed 
the  fabulous  wealth  of  contemporary  Britain.  But  the 
benefits  of  expansion  are  not  unmitigated.  By  the  crea- 
tion, all  over  the  world,  of  interests  which  require  to  be 
defended  when  threatened,  England  has  become  involved 
in  the  nineteenth  century  in  numerous  wars.     Indeed  war 


1  Once  (1893)  a  Home  Rule  Bill  was  even  passed  by  the  Commons, 
but  was  immediately  thrown  out  by  the  Lords. 


398 


Moderti  Europe 


Her  one  Eu- 
ropean war. 


Rivalry  of 
Russia  and 
England  in 
Asia. 


may  be  said  to  have  become  a  permanent  feature  of  Eng- 
lish poUtics.  If  her  troops  are  not  fighting  in  South  Africa, 
they  are  engaged  on  the  Nile,  and  if  not  on  the  Nile,  then 
one  may  be  sure  that  they  are  forcing  the  passes  of  the 
Himalayas. 

But  conflicts  such  as  these,  engaged  in  against  the  bar- 
barian or  half-civilized  tribes  of  Asia  and  Africa,  are  petty 
skirmishes  compared  with  the  struggle  which  ensues  when 
Great  Britain  meets  a  continental  power.  Luckily,  only 
once  since  the  fall  of  Napoleon  has  she  been  obliged  to 
fight  a  European  foe.  From  1854  to  1856  she  engaged, 
in  alliance  with  France,  in  the  so-called  Crimean  War^ 
against  Russia.  She  was  persuaded  to  take  part  in  that 
war  because  she  believed  that  Russia  was  about  to  swallow 
up  Turkey,  and  that  the  ascendancy  of  Russia  at  Constan- 
tinople would  endanger  the  English  ascendancy  in  the 
east.  The  Crimean  War  ending  in  the  discomfiture  of 
Russia,  Constantinople  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks ; 
but  England  has  never  ceased  fearing  that  Russia  will,  at 
some  time  or  other,  again  take  up  her  designs  against  Tur- 
key, and  watches  the  northern  power  with  constant  sus- 
picion. Her  friendship  with  Turkey  has  been,  perhaps, 
the  only  cause  of  the  maintenance  of  that  power  in  Europe. 

A  further  cause  embittering  the  relations  between  Eng- 
land and  Russia  is  furnished  by  the  situation  in  Asia. 
The  largest  and  richest  province  of  England  being  India, 
that  territory  is  guarded  by  England  with  exceeding  jeal- 
ousy. Now  Russia  has  for  a  hundred  years  been  steadily 
extending  her  possessions  over  central  and  western  Asia, 
until  the  English  in  India  feel  that  they  are  no  longer  safe. 
Border  disputes  between  England  and  Russia  have  not  been 
unfrequent  of  late  years,  and  may  at  some  time  involve  the 
two  countries  in  war.     Altogether  it  may  be  asserted  that 

» See  page  373. 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century     399 


isolation." 


the  greatest  danger  to  the  English  colonial  empire  threatens 
from  Russia,  and  chiefly  at  the  two  points  mentioned — in 
the  eastern  Mediterranean,  where  the  object  of  rivalry  is 
Constantinople,  and  in  India. 

But  Russia  is  not  the  only  power  which  puts  a  restraint  Her  "splendid 
upon  Great  Britain ;  France  and  Germany,  and  even  the 
United  States,  have  of  late  years  been  engaged  in  frequent 
diplomatic  disputes  with  the  great  sea-power.  And  it  must 
be  granted  that  the  habit  of  promiscuous  land-grabbing, 
which  has  long  distinguished  the  policy  of  Great  Britain,  is 
very  provoking  to  high-spirited  nations.  Thus  by  her  oc- 
cupation of  Egypt,  in  1882,  she  indeed  secured  for  herself 
the  control  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  the  other  waterways  to 
India,  but  at  the  same  time  delivered  a  blow  to  the  influ- 
ence of  France  in  the  Mediterranean  which  will  not  be 
easily  forgotten  by  that  nation.  However,  up  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  this  and  other  disputes  have  not  led  to  war; 
Great  Britain  being  a  commercial  power,  is  not  anxious  to 
engage  in  military  enterprises,  and  the  other  European 
powers,  torn  by  disputes  of  their  own,  have  never  been  able 
to  combine  against  her. 


CHAPTER   IX 


RUSSIA    AND    THE    BALKAN    PENINSULA 


The  rise  of 
Russia. 


The  Empire 
of  Turkey. 


The  Study  of  the  foregoing  pages  must,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  have  impressed  the  reader  with  the  increasing 
importance  in  the  world  of  Russia.  We  saw  Russia  under 
Peter  the  Great  (i 689-1 725)  estabhsh  herself  as  an  Euro- 
pean power ;  under  Catharine  the  Great  (1762—95)  we  saw 
her  accomplish  the  destruction  of  Poland  ;  and  under  Alex- 
ander L  (1801-25)  we  saw  her  assume  the  leadership  of 
the  European  nations  in  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon.  From 
the  death  of  Alexander  1.  to  the  present  day  the  principal 
objects  of  the  policy  of  the  Czars  have  been  the  overthrow 
of  Turkey  and  the  extension  of  Russian  rule  in  Asia. 

The  conflict  between  Russia  and  Turkey  forms,  because 
of  the  questions  involved,  one  of  the  most  interesting  chap- 
ters of  nineteenth-century  history.  To  understand  the  in- 
tricacies of  that  chapter  it  is  necessary  to  grasp  the  condi- 
tion of  Turkey.  The  Empire  of  Turkey  was  created  chiefly 
in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  by  the  military 
triumphs  of  fanatical  Mohammedan  hordes,  called  Turks, 
and  embraced  at  its  height  the  north  coast  of  Africa,  Syria, 
Asia  Minor,  and  southeastern  Europe.  The  head  of  the 
Empire  of  Turkey  is  its  absolute  master,  and  is  called  Sul- 
tan. Under  him  as  heads  of  the  provincial  divisions  of  the 
empire  are  the  pashas.  The  government  of  the  Sultan  and 
the  pashas  has  from  time  immemorial  been  arbitrary,  cor- 
rupt, and  oppressive.  The  subject  peoples  have  groaned 
under  an  extortionary  system  of  unparalleled   rigor,  and 

400 


Balkans. 


Russia  and  the  Balkan  Peninsula  401 

whenever  they  have  risen  in  protest  they  have  been  hurled 
back  into  slavery  by  means  of  ruthless  massacres.  The 
Turks  have  made  no  effort  to  assimilate  the  many  peoples 
they  have  conquered,  and  have  never  appeared  in  any  other 
guise  to  the  Oriental  world  than  that  of  a  privileged  class 
of  military  despots  encamped  among  conquered  nations  of 
slaves. 

If  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  des-  The  revolt  of 
potic  character  of  the  Turkish  rule  excited  discontent  peopies^ofthe 
among  all  the  peoples  of  the  empire,  it  excited  nothing  less 
than  shame  and  horror  among  the  Christian  subjects  of  the 
Sultan.  The  bulk  of  these  were  resident  in  southeastern 
Europe,  and  were  racially  either  Greeks  or  Slavs.  The 
Greeks  dwelt  approximately  within  the  confines  of  ancient 
Hellas  and  on  the  ^gean  Islands,  while  the  Slavs,  among 
whom  we  must  distinguish  the  families  of  the  Serbs,  the 
Roumanians,!  the  Bulgarians,  and  the  Montenegrins  were 
scattered,  often  without  any  clearly  marked  racial  bounda- 
ries, over  the  Balkan  peninsula.  From  the  beginning  of 
this  century  the  Greeks  and  the  Slavs,  growing  more  and 
more  restless  under  the  Turkish  rule,,  have  risen  repeatedly 
to  gain  their  independence.  In  these  risings  they  have 
generally  enjoyed  the  sympathy  of  Europe,  and  invariably 
the  sympathy  and  aid  of  Russia.  For,  in  the  first  place, 
the  rise  of  the  subject  nationalities  of  the  Balkans  has  fallen 
in  with  the  Russian  policy,  which  aims  at  the  abasement  of 
Turkey ;  and  in  the  second  place,  the  Russian  people  are 
linked  with  the  Slav  and  Greek  peoples  by  the  common 
bond  of  the  Greek  Church. 

The  reader  has  already  been  made  acquainted  with  some 

1  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  Roumanians  should  be  catalogued  as  Slavs. 
They  speak  a  tongue  derived  from  the  Latin,  and  take  themselves  to  be 
what  their  name  indicates,  descendants  of  the  Romans.  Ethnologists, 
however,  hold  that  the  Roumanians  are  largely  of  Slavic  blood.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  scholars  entertain  a  similar  view  of  the  modern 
Greeks. 


402  Moderji  Europe 


The  independ-   of  the  movements  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  and  with  some 

cncc  oi  CjrcccG  

and  the  Tur-  of  the  conflicts  between  Russia  and  Turkey  resulting  there- 
Wa^ 0^8^8-29.  ^^^"^-  ^^  ^^  y^^^  ^^21  the  Greeks  rose  against  their 
masters,  and  maintained  themselves  for  years  against  them 
in  a  struggle  as  heroic  as  any  in  history.  The  interference 
of  the  western  powers  at  Navarino  (1827),  and  the  still 
more  emphatic  interference  of  Russia  in  the  war  of  1828- 
29,  inclined  the  scales  in  favor  of  the  Greeks.  They  be- 
came independent  under  a  constitutional  monarchy.  In 
the  peace  signed  at  Adrianople  (1829)  the  Russians  fur- 
ther secured  for  the  principalities  of  Servia,  Moldavia,  and 
Wallachia  a  fair  degree  of  self-government.  For  them- 
selves, however,  the  Russians  hardly  got  anything  at  all, 
and  were  naturally  dissatisfied.  The  fact  was  that  the 
western  powers,  and  primarily  England,  fearful  of  seeing 
Russia  established  at  Constantinople,  had  forbidden  her 
to  profit  by  her  victories.  This  jealousy  of  Russia  and 
England  about  Constantinople,  first  brought  into  clear  view 
in  1829,  has  been  ever  since  the  most  important  feature 
in  the  politics  of  the  east. 
The  Crimean  It  was  Czar  Nicholas  I.  (1825-55)  ^'^^  ^^^  waged  the 
helped  by  ^^  war  of  1828-29.  During  the  following  years  Nicholas  be- 
Frailce'*  ^^^  came  more  and  more  convinced  that  the  Turkish  Empire 
was  falling  apart.  He  invented  the  famous  phrase  by 
which  he  designated  the  Sultan  as  '*  the  sick  man."  De- 
sirous of  getting  the  sick  man's  heritage,  he  resolved  in 
1853  to  clinch  matters  by  occupying  the  sick  man's  terri- 
tories. The  result  was  the  Crimean  War,  in  which  Turkey 
was  allied  with  France  and  England,  and  in  which  because 
of  this  alliance  she  came  out  victorious.  In  the  Peace 
of  Paris  (1856),  Russia,  thoroughly  humiliated,  ceded  her 
claim  to  act  as  sole  protector  of  the  Christians  of  the  Bal- 
kans to  the  community  of  the  European  powers.  But  in 
spite  of  the  Russian  defeat  the  Christians  of  the  peninsula 


Russia  and  the  Balkan  Peninsula  403 

suffered  no  loss,  and  the  Turks  gained  no  advantage.  The 
leading  Danubian  principalities,  Servia,  Wallachia,  and 
Moldavia,  were  confirmed  in  the  rights  (self-government 
under  the  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan)  which  had  been  grant- 
ed them  in  the  Peace  of  Adrianople. 

The  assumption  of  the  protectorate  of  the  Christians  by  Creation  of 
the  European  powers  had  naturally  the  effect  of  encourag-  isei!^^^^' 
ing  the  Christians  in  their  struggle  for  independence.  In 
1 86 1  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  provinces  of  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia  resolved,  on  the  ground  of  their  common  Rou- 
manian nationality,  to  fuse  their  two  territories  into  the 
single  state  of  Roumania.  If  the  Roumanians  counted  in 
this  step  upon  Europe,  they  were  not  deceived.  The 
powers  endorsed  the  revolution,  and  the  Sultan  had  to  ac- 
cept the  inevitable. 

It  was  not  till  1875  that  the  situation  in  the  Balkan  pen-  The  revolt  of 
insula  entered  another  crisis.  In  that  year  a  revolt  broke  °^"'^'  ^  ^^' 
out  in  Bosnia  which,  threatening  to  extend  to  the  neighbor- 
ing states,  soon  caused  the  diplomatic  interference  of  Eu- 
rope, and  led  to  another  war  between  Turkey  and  Russia — 
the  third  in  order  since  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  The  cause 
of  the  Bosnian  revolt  was  the  insufferable  oppression  of 
the  Turkish  tax-collectors.  The  brave  Bosnian  insurgents 
maintained  themselves  with  success  in  their  mountains,  and 
for  a  time  the  situation  of  the  Turks  was  critical.  While 
fighting  the  Bosnians  in  front  of  them,  they  had  to  reckon 
with  the  possibility  of  a  rising  among  the  Bosnian  sympa- 
thizers in  their  rear,  for  the  consequence  of  the  Bosnian 
struggle  was  a  tremendous  ferment  among  all  the  Christian 
races  under  Turkish  rule,  accompanied  by  the  desire  to 
effect  a  common  rising  against  the  Mohammedan  master. 
Fearful  of  this  movement  the  Turks  resolved  to  forestall  it  by 
a  characteristic  method.  They  sent  irregular  troops  among 
the  Bulgarians,  with  orders  to  kill  whomsoever  they  encoun- 


404 


Modern  Europe 


The 

Bulgarian 
massacres, 
1876. 


Russia  de- 
clares war, 
1877. 


The  Russian 

invasion. 

Plevna. 


The  Peace  of 
San  Stefano. 
England  pro- 
tests. 


tered.  The  fanatical  Mohammedan  soldiery  had  evidently 
only  been  waiting  for  this  permission.  They  threw  them- 
selves upon  the  defenceless  Bulgarian  villages,  and  massa- 
cred in  cold  blood  thousands  and  thousands  of  men,  wom- 
en, and  children. 

The  Bulgarian  atrocities  filled  Europe  with  horror.  The 
Sultan  made  glib  excuses,  and  the  diplomats  arranged  all 
kinds  of  compromises,  but  the  difficulties  between  Europe 
and  Turkey  had  already  got  beyond  adjustment  by  paper 
conclusions.  In  Russia,  where  the  people  were  related  to 
the  Bulgarians  by  ties  of  race  and  religion,  the  popular  sen- 
timent was  soon  excited  beyond  control,  and  in  April, 
1877,  Czar  Alexander  II.  (1855-81),  unable  and  unwill- 
ing to  resist  longer  the  public  pressure,  declared  war. 

The  Turco-Russian  War  of  1877  was  brought  by  the  Rus- 
sians, after  a  series  of  brilliant  engagements,  to  a  successful 
issue.  In  June  they  crossed  the  Danube  ;  a  month  later, 
they  occupied  the  principal  passes  of  the  Balkan  mountains, 
and  prepared  to  march  upon  Constantinople.  At  this 
juncture  the  Russians  met  with  their  only  serious  check.  In 
the  rapid  overthrow  of  the  Turkish  Empire  one  man  ap- 
peared, resolved  to  save  at  least  the  military  honor  of  the 
nation.  This  was  Osman  Pasha.  He  gathered  such  forces 
as  were  available,  and  fortified  himself  at  Plevna.  For  five 
months  he  directed  a  defense  against  the  Russians  which 
stopped  completely  the  forward  movement  upon  Constan- 
tinople, and  invited  the  admiration  of  the  world.  But  in 
December,  1877,  Plevna  was  taken,  and  Osman,  ''  the  lion 
of  Plevna,"  with  the  worn-out  remnant  of  his  troops,  had 
to  surrender. 

Immediately  on  the  surrender  of  Plevna  the  Russians 
took  up  again  their  march  to  Constantinople.      Turkey' 
offered  no  further  resistance,  and  in  sight  of  the  minarets 
of  the  Turkish  capital,  the  Russians  forced  from  the  Turks 


Russia  and  the  Balkan  Peninsula  405 

the  Peace  of  San  Stefano  (March,  1878).  The  Peace  of 
San  Stefano  practically  decreed  the  dissolution  of  the  Turk- 
ish Empire.  That  was,  from  the  point  of  view  of  civiliza- 
tion, wholly  desirable,  but  unfortunately  the  Peace  of  San 
Stefano  also  made  Russia  the  principal  heir  of  Turkey. 
As  the  aggrandizement  of  Russia  could  not  be  observed 
by  England  without  concern,  England  now  made  the  de- 
mand that  the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano  be  submitted  to  the 
European  powers  for  revision.  Russia  at  first  protested, 
but  as  England,  then  governed  by  the  spirited  Lord  Bea- 
consfield  (Disraeli),  threatened  to  go  to  war  in  order  to 
get  satisfaction,  the  Czar  gave  way.  In  consequence  there 
assembled  for  the  revision  of  the  Peace  of  San  Stefano  the 
Congress  of  Berhn  (June,  1878). 

The  Congress  of  Berlin  was  largely  dominated  by  sus- 
picion of  Russia.  In  consequence  it  adopted  the  policy 
of  modifying  the  advantages  which  Russia  had  secured 
from  Turkey,  and  of  strengthening  the  small  states  of  the 
Balkan  peninsula  in  the  hope  that  they  might  prove  an 
effective  barrier  in  the  future  between  Russia  and  her  prey 
on  the  Bosporus.  The  Congress  of  Berlin  adopted  the  fol-  The  Congress 
lowing  measures:  i.  Montenegro,  Servia,  and  Roumania  1878.  ' 
were  declared  independent.  2.  Bulgaria  was  constituted  as 
a  self-governing  principality,  subject  merely  to  the  payment 
of  an  annual  tribute  to  the  Sultan.  Its  boundaries  were 
drawn  on  the  north  by  the  Danube,  and  on  the  south  by 
the  Balkan  mountains.  3.  The  southern  part  of  ancient 
Bulgaria — the  part  south  of  the  Balkans — was  constituted  as 
the  province  of  East  Roumelia,  and  though  given  an  inde- 
pendent civil  administration  was  left  under  the  military 
authority  of  the  Turks.  4.  Austria  was  commissioned  to 
occupy  and  administer  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina.  5.  Russia 
received  a  number  of  territories  in  Asia  Minor.  As  the 
reader  will  observe,  Russia  came  out  of  the  Congress  of 


4o6 


Modern  Europe 


Roumania, 
Servia,  and 
Bulgaria  since 
the  war. 


Russia  in 
Asia. 


Berlin  damaged  in  prestige  and  shorn  of  her  triumphs,  and 
has  ever  since  looked  upon  the  Berlin  settlement  with 
wrath  and  indignation. 

Since  the  Congress  of  Berlin  a  number  of  changes  have 
occurred,  most  of  which  point  to  the  increasing  vigor  of  the 
Balkan  ''  buffer  "  states  and  to  the  success  of  the  Berlin 
policy.  In  1881  Roumania  declared  herself  a  kingdom 
under  King  Charles  I.  of  the  German  House  of  Hohen- 
zollern-Sigmaringen.  Servia  followed  suit  in  1882,  her 
first  king  being  Milan  I.  of  the  native  Servian  family  of 
Obrenovitch.  Bulgaria,  however,  has  seen  even-  greater 
changes.  In  1885  East  Roumelia,  which  is  inhabited  by 
Bulgarians,  and  had  by  the  Congress  of  Berlin  been  sepa- 
rated from  Bulgaria  against  its  will,  revolted  against  Turk- 
ish rule,  and  united  itself  with  its  sister  state.  Soon  after 
this  event  Alexander  of  Battenberg,  who  had  been  elected 
prince  of  Bulgaria  in  1879,  was  deposed  by  a  Russian  con- 
spiracy, but  the  affairs  of  the  country  were  not  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  this  mischance,  for  Ferdinand  of  Coburg  was 
elected  prince  in  Alexander's  stead,  and  the  country  has 
since  enjoyed  comparative  quiet. 

If  by  means  of  the  three  wars  which  Russia  has  waged 
against  Turkey  since  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  she  has 
made  considerable  acquisitions  from  that  country,  she  has 
fared  still  better  in  another  quarter.  In  central  and  eastern 
Asia,  she  has  had  no  very  important  foe  to  face,  and  has 
in  consequence,  by  a  system  of  gradual  encroachments, 
added  to  Siberia,  which  she  already  held,  a  great  number 
of  border  provinces.  The  Russian  bear,  therefore,  is  now  a 
close  neighbor  of  the  English  in  India,  and  of  the  Chinese, 
and  there  is  no  saying  whether  he  will  put  an  end  to  his 
Asiatic  foraging  at  their  respective  confines.  The  chances 
rather  are  that  he  will  not. 

Before  we  close  the  chapter  on  Russia,  a  number  of  inter- 


Russia  and  the  Balkan  Peninsula  407 

nal  matters  deserve  a  passing  mention.  Czar  Alexander  II.  The  emanci- 
(1855-81)  was  a  notably  amiable  and  humane  gentleman.  serfs'"i86i. 
His  name  therefore  fittingly  stands  at  the  head  of  a  great 
reform.  In  1858  he  granted  freedom  to  the  20,000,000 
serfs  on  the  crown  domains,  and  in  1861  he  ordered  also 
the  liberation  of  the  20,000,000  serfs  resident  upon  the 
lands  of  the  nobles.  The  peasants  thus  became  free  pro- 
prietors. This  high-minded  measure  raised  great  expec- 
tations among  the  educated  classes.  They  fancied  that 
the  Russian  millennium  was  at  hand,  and  demanded  a  con- 
stitutional government.  When  the  Czar  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  their  request,  the  more  radical  elements  plotted  secretly 
against  the  government,  and  drifted  gradually  into  nihilism. 
The  Nihilists  have  kept  up  an  active  propaganda  for  many  Nihilism, 
decades,  and  have  done  many  deeds  of  horror.  In  1881 
they  even  assassinated  the  Czar.  These  excesses  the  gov- 
ernment has  met  by  wholesale  execution  and  exile  to  Sibe- 
ria, but  thus  far  without  crushing  the  Nihilist  agitation. 

A  further  embarrassment  to  the  Russian  Government  is  The  Poles, 
furnished  by  the  Poles.  The  reader  will  remember  how 
the  Poles  rose  bravely  in  1830,  only  to  be  put  down  a  year 
later  after  a  bloody  struggle.  In  1863  they  rose  once 
more,  but  with  even  less  success  than  on  the  previous  oc- 
casion. Since  then  the  Polish  provinces  have  been  held 
by  Russian  troops,  and  have  been  subjected  to  an  iron 
bondage.  But  the  Russian  policy  has  not  broken  the  spirit 
of  the  brave  people.  The  Poles  continue  to  hope  for  an 
early  resurrection. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Absolutism,  3,  22,  163  ff. 

Abukir  Bay,  battle  of,  308 

Academy  of  France,  140 

Act  of  Settlement,  251 

Act  of  Supremacy,  75,  79 ;  abol- 
ished, 83  ;  restored,  88 

Act  of  Uniformity,  88,  89,  190 

Act  of  Union,  263 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  205 ;  Peace  of,  241, 
256 

Albigenses,  58 

Alexander  I.,  319,  350 

Alexander  II.,  374,  407 

Alexander  VI.,  Pope,  6,  19,  30 

Alexander  of  Batt<-  nberg,  406 

Alexis,  226 

Alsace,  157,  386,  388 

Alva,  duke  of,  106  ff.;  no 

American  Revolution,  262 

Amerigo  Vespucci,  5 

Anjou,  House  of,  15 

Angouleme,  duke  of,  338 

Anne,  queen  of  England,  251  ff. 

Anne  of  Austria,  200 

Anne  Boleyn,  73;  proclaimed 
queen,  75  ;  execution  of,  78 

Anne  of  Cleves,  78 

Antoine,  king  of  Navarre,  126,  127, 
129 

Antwerp,  in 

Archbishoprics,  45 

Areola,  battle  of,  305 

Armada,  Spanish,  64,  96  f. 

Artois,  40 

Artois,  count  of;  279,  287,  342 


Assembly,  National,  276  ff.;  Legis- 
lative, 286  ff. 

Assignats,  283,  308 

Auerstadt,  318 

Augsburg,  Diet  of,  41,  42  ;  Confes- 
sion of,  41 ;  Religious  Peace  of, 
45  ;  Peace  of,  141 

August  the  Strong,  222,  223 

Austerlitz,  battle  of,  316 

Austria,  142;  Seven  Years'  War, 
243  ff-'  247  ;  War  of  Austrian  Suc- 
cession, 256  ;  and  French  Revolu- 
tion, 287  /;  291,  292,  303,  304// 
309  ;  territorial  reconstruction  of, 
334;  revolution  of  1848  in,  360, 
366  ff.;  war  of  1866,  378,  382/. 

Austrian  Succession,  War  of,  239^.; 
241,  256,  258 

Austro-Hungary,  390 

Azov,  Port  of,  218,  225 

Aztecs,  7 


Bacon,  Francis,  99,  167 
Baden,  384 

Balkan  Peninsula,  340,  401^. 
Barras,  303 
Bastille,  the,  278  /. 
Batavian  Republic,  315 
Battle  of  the  Pyramids,  308 
''  Battle  of  the  Spurs,"  71 
Bautzen,  battle  of,  328 
Bavaria,  142,  153,  316,  383,  384 
Bavarian  Succession,  War  of,  247 
Beaconsfield,  Lord,  405 


411 


412 


Index 


Belgium,  lie,   302;    revolution    in, 

Calderon,  67 

346/: 

Calvin.  49/: 

Bender,  225 

Calvinism,  51,  53, 141 

Berry,  duke  of,  342 

Cambray,  Peace  of,  41 

Bibliography,  25,  26, 161, 162, 264,265 

Campo  Formio,  Peace  of,  306 

Bill  of  Rights,  198 

Canada,    French    in,  10 ;    conquest 

Bishops'  Wars,  176  ff. 

by  English,  261 

Bismarck,  Otto  von,  381  ff.  ;  389 

Canning,  340 

Black  Book,  77 

Cappel,  battle  of,  48 

Blake,  admiral,  187 

Capuchins,  55 

Blenheim,  battle  of,  211 

Carbonari,  349 

Bloody  Assizes,  197 

Carlstadt,  38 

Blucher,  marshal,  331 

Carnot,  294/,  302,305 

Bohemia,  143/;  and  Thirty  Years' 

Carrier,  298/ 

War.  145/ 

Castlereagh,  Lord,  330,  391 

Bologna,  41 

Cateau-Cambresis,  Peace    of,    104, 

Bonaparte,    Jerome,    319 ;    Joseph, 

124 ;  63,  note 

320,  321 ;   Louis,  320 

Catharine  of  Aragon,  71,  72,  75 

Book  of  Common  Prayer,  80 

Catharine  Howard,  78 

Borgia,  the,  19 

Catharine  Parr,  78 

Bosnia,  403 

Catharine  IL    of  Russia,    227  ff.  ; 

Bos  worth,  battle  of,  23 

246 

Both  well,  earl  of,  94/ 

Catholic  Relief  Bill,  394 

Bourbon,  House  of,  126,  133,   210 ; 

Catholicism   in  England,  165,  191/ 

and  Thirty  Years'  War,  145,  155 

Cavaignac,  357,  358 

Boyne,  battle  of  the,  249 

Cavaliers,  199 

Braganza,  House  of,  65 

Cavour,  374/ 

Brandenburg,  158,  230 

Cecil,  Lord  Burghley,  88,  96 

Brazil,  7,  10 

Cervantes,  67 

Breitenfeld,  battle  of,  152 

Charles  Albert  (of  Sardinia),  363 

Bremen,  156 

Charles  I.  (of  England),  168,  169/:  ; 

Bridge  of  Dessau,  battle  of,  149 

flight  to  York,  178  ;   surrender  to 

Brissot,  293 

Scots,  180 ;  beheaded,  182 

Brunswick,  duke  of,  288 

Charles   IL  (of  England),   184,    188 

Buckingham,   duke    of,     168,     171 ; 

ff.  ;  and  Louis  XIV.,  193 ;    death 

murder  of,  172 

of,  195 

Bulgaria,  404,  405,  406 

Charles  I.  (of  Roumania),  406 

Bund,  the,  336,  349,  370 

Charles  II.  (of  Spain),  210,  251 

Bundesrath,  388 

Charles  IV.  (of  Spain),  32a 

Bunyan,  John,  199 

Charles    V.      (emperor),     king     of 

Burgundy,  40,  41,  43  ;  House  of,  100 ; 

Spain,  14,  21  /  ;  French-Spanish 

Circle  of,  loi ;  Duchy  of,  119 

wars,  40,   43 ;   crowned   emperor, 

Bute,  Lord,  261 

41 ;    war  in  Germany,  44  /  /  and 

Martin  Luther,   36  /.  /  abdicates, 

Cabot,  John,  10 

46 :  and  the  Netherlands,  100,  loa 

Calais.  85,  104,  124 

/./  and  Francis  I.,  119 

Index 


413 


Charles  VI.  (emperor),  212,  238  /  ; 

Constituent  Assembly,  277,  note 

256,  258 

Constitution  of  the  year  III.,  304 

Charles  VII.  (emperor),  240,  241 

Consulate,  the,  310/. 

Charles  VIII.  (of  France),  15,  18,  20 

Continental  System,  320/: 

Charles  IX.  (of  France),  128,    130, 

Conventicle  Act,  191 

132 

Corday,  Charlotte,  295  ff. 

Charles  X.  (of  France),  342,  345 

Cordeliers,  282 

Charles  X.  (of  Sweden),  233 

Corn  Laws,  repeal  of,  395/ 

Charles  XII.  (of  Sweden),  221  ff.  ,- 

Corneille,  140 

in  Poland,  223/  ;  flees  to  Turkey, 

Corporation  Act,  190,  194 

224/.  ;  death  of,  225 

Corsica,  307 

Christian  IV.,  148,  381 

Cortez,  7,  8 

Christina  of  Sweden,  154,  221 

Council  of  Ancients,  304 

Christopher  Columbus,  5 

Council  of  Blood,  95,  107,  no 

Church,  States  of  the,  18/  ;  Greek, 

Council  of  Five  Hundred,  304 

27 ;     Catholic,    27  ff.  ;    and    the 

Council  of  Trent,  44,  57,  96,  142 

Renaissance,  30  f.  ;  of  England, 

Counter-Reformation,  szff-  '>   142/ 

75,  n-,  79.  80 ;  under  Elizabeth,  88 

Covenanters,  176,  177 

Cisalpine  Republic,  306,  315 

Cranmer,  75,  80,  85 

Civil  Wars  (England),  178  ff.  ;  182 

Crespy,  Peace  of,  43 

ff- 

Crimean  War,  373/.  ;  402 

Clement  VII.,  73 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  179  ff.  ;  182,  184  ; 

Clergy  of  France,  269/ 

Protector,  185/".  /  death  of,  187 

Clive,  Lord,  261 

Cromwell,  Richard,  188 

Cobden,  Richard,  396 

Cromwell,  Thomas,  75,  76,  78 

Code  Napoleon,  314 

Crusades,  2 

Colbert,  Jean,  203/; 

Culloden  Moor,  battle  of,  257 

Colet,  John,  32,  68,  69 

Custozza,  battle  of,  363,  378 

Coligny,  Gaspard  de,  127,  128,  129, 

130 
Colonies,  Spanish,  7 ;   English,  10 ; 

Czaslau,  battle  of,  240 

Danton,  282,  285,  289/  ;  300 

French,  10;  Dutch,  11 

Darnley,  Lord,  94/. 

Committee  of    Pubhc   Safety,    294, 

Declaration  of  Independence,  262 

302 

Declaration  of  Indulgence,  194 

Commonwealth,  the,  183/ 

Denmark,   47,    147  #;  149;   league 

Commune  of  Paris,  389 

with  Poland  and   Russia,  221  /  ; 

Conde,  prince  of,  12.6  ff.;  155,  206 

361/ 

Concordat,  the,  313 

Diet,  the,   11,  note  ;  12  ;   of  Worms, 

Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  316 

36,  119 ;  of  Augsburg,  41 ;  of  Nu- 

Congress of  Berlin,  405 

remberg,  54  ;  of  Ratisbon,  150 

Congress  of  Laibach,  337 

Directory,  the,  304,  310 

Congress  of  Troppau,  337 

Dissenters,  191 

Congress  of  Verona,  338 

Don  John  of  Austria,  112 

Congress  of  Vienna,  329/  ;  333^. 

Dover,  Treaty  of,  193,  206 

Conspiracy  of  Amboise,  127 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  96,  97 

Constantine  of  Russia,  350 

Dresden,  Peace  of,  241 

414 


Index 


Drogheda,  184 

Dryden,  John,  199 

Dudley,  Guilford,  82 

Dunbar,  battle  of,  184 

Dunkirk,  187 

Dutch,  in  Netherlands,  loi;  war  with 
England,  187,  192,  193  ff.  ;  205 
ff.;  210,  212  ;  and  Louis  XIV.,  205 

Dutch  Colonies,  11,  117 

Dutch  Repubhc,  115,  116/ 

East  India  Company,  115,  169 

East  Roumelia,  405 

Ecclesiastical  Reservation,  45,  141 

Edict  of  Nantes,  Revocation  of, 
207/ 

Edict  of  Restitution,  149/!  ;  154 

Edict  of  Worms,  2,1 

Edinburgh,  Treaty  of,  93 

Edward  VI.,  78,  79,  81,  82 

Egmont,  count,  105,  107 

Egypt,  308 

Elector  of  Saxony,  36,  44,  146,  152 

Elizabeth,  78,  79  ;  character,  86  f.  ; 
religious  policy,  88 ;  and  Mary 
Stuart,  90,  93/  ;  last  years,  98 yi 

Elizabeth  of  the  Palatinate,  147 

Elizabeth  of  Russia,  246 

England,  22^  ;  under  the  Tudors, 
68  ff.  ;  church  of,  75,  79,  88  ;  on  the 
sea,  96,  98  ;  expansion  of  life,  99  ; 
in  seventeenth  century,  163^  ; 
Commonwealth  and  Protectorate, 
183^  ;  under  Charles  II.,  188^.  / 
under  James  II.,  196  y.;  under 
William  and  Mary,  197 ;  Grand 
Alliance,  208,  210/.,  212;  Seven 
Years'  War,  243^,  260;  in  eigh- 
teenth century,  248^.  ;  and  Ire- 
land, 249^;  War  of  Spanish  Suc- 
cession, 252  ;  union  with  Scotland, 
253;  War  of  Austrian  Succession, 
240,  256 ;  and  Napoleon,  320^.  ,•  in 
Crimean  War,  398  ;  a  world  em- 
pire, 397/ 

English  Cabinet,  254 


English  Colonies,  10,  261  /.  ,•  334 

Erasmus,  "ytf. 

Essex,  earl  of,  98 

Eugene,  prince  of  Savoy,  211 

Eugenie,  387 

Fairfax,  Sir  Richard,  180,  184 

Farel,  49 

Fawkes,  Guy,  165 

Fehrbellin,  battle  of,  234 

Felton,  John,  172 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  21,  22 

Ferdinand  I.  (Germany),  46,  142 

Ferdinand  II.  (Austria),  145^./  154, 
156 

Ferdinand  III.  (Austria),  156 

Ferdinand  (of  Brunswick),  261 

Ferdinand  (of  Coburg),  406 

Ferdinand  (of  Naples),  337 

Ferdinand  VII.  (Spain),  336/ 

Fisher,  Bishop,  76 

Five  Mile  Act,  191 

Flemish,  the,  loi 

Fleury,  Cardinal,  258 

Flodden  Field,  battle  of,  71 

Florence,  \T  f. 

Fontenoy,  battle  of,  256 

Fotheringay  Castle,  96 

Fourth  Estate,  271 

France,  20  ;  Reformation  in,  119  ff.; 
Renaissance  in,.  122 ;  under  the 
Guises,  125  ff.;  War  of  Three 
Henries,  132 ;  under  Richelieu, 
136  ff. ;  137  ;  Thirty  Years'  War, 
151,  15s;  under  Louis  XIV.,  looff.; 
War  of  Spanish  Succession,  211 ; 
Seven  Years'  War,  243  ff.;  260;  in 
eighteenth  century,  2\Z  ff.  ;  266; 
given  a  constitution,  341/!  ;  Rev- 
olution, 266  ff.  ;  under  Louis 
Philippe,  352^;  Second  Repub- 
lic, 358  ;  under  Napoleon  III.,  372 
ff.  ;  Third  Republic,  389  / 

Franche  Conte,  207 

Francis  I.  (Austria),  241,  244 

Francis  I.  (B'rance),  16,  20 ;  French- 


Index 


415 


Spanish  wars,  40,  43  ;  alliance  with 

German  Empire,  constitution  of,  388 

Turks,  43  ;  rivalry  with  Charles  V., 

German  Parliament,    360,   361,    362, 

119/.;  a  persecutor,  121/;  patron 

368  #. 

of  art  and  literature,  122 

Germany,    11  f.;    Reformation    in. 

Francis  II.  (Austria),  287,  317 

27  ff.;  Thirty  Years'  War,  Mxff.; 

Francis  II.  (France),  92,  125,  127 

Protestantism,   142 ;  under  Ferdi- 

Francis II.  (Naples),  377 

nand  II.,  145  ff.;  Napoleonic  wars 

Francis  Joseph,  368,  369 

in,  335  ;  effect  of  July  Revolution, 

Franco-Prussian  War,  386/". 

348  //     Revolution    of    1848    in, 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  262 

359  ff-:  unification  of,  380  ff. 

Frans  Hals,  117 

Gibraltar,  213,  253 

Frederick  I.,  235 

Gironde,  286,  291  /./  293 

Frederick  William,  the  Great  Elect- 

Girondists, 288 

or,  232  ff. 

Gladstone,  397 

Frederick  the  Great,  238  ff.;  241  /; 

Glorious  Revolution,  the,  197 

and  Voltaire,  242  ;  Seven  Years' 

Grand  Alliance,  210 

War,  244^;  Second   Peace   Pe- 

Gravelins, 104.  124 

riod,  246  / 

Great  Britain  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 

Frederick William  I.,  236  ff. 

tury,  392  iJ^ 

Frederick  William  II.,  287 

Greek  Church,  217,  220 

Frederick  William  III.,  318,  319 

Greek  Revolution,  339  ff.;  402 

Frederick  William  IV.,  360,  368,  369, 

Grouchy,  Marshal,  331 

370 

Guatimozin,  8 

Frederick   of   the    Palatinate,    143 ; 

Guise,  duke  of,  128,  129 

King  of  Bohemia,  146  ;  and  James 

Guise,  Henry  of,  132,  133 

I.,  167/. 

Guises,  the,  125,  127/./  130 

Frederick  of  Hohenzollern,  231 

Guizot,  353,  355 

Frederickshald,  225 

Gunpowder  Plot,  165 

French  Colonies,  10,  204,  261  f. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  149,  \$off.;  221 

French  Empire,  315  ff. 

French  Revolution,  266  ff. 

Hadrian  VI.,  54 

French-Spanish  wars,  20,  40,  43 

Hampden,  John,  175,  178 

Friedland,  battle  of,  319 

Hanover,  House  of,  254 

Frobisher,  Lord,  97 

Hapsburg,   House  of,  11,  13/;  46; 

Fronde,  the,  201 

and  Richelieu,  138,  145,  155 

Fueillants,  the,  286 

Hardenberg,  327 

Hazelrigg,  178 

Gambetta,  386/ 

Hebert,  299 

Garibaldi,  366,  377  ff. 

Helena,  St. ,  Island  of,  332 

Gaston,  duke  of  Orleans,  137 

Henrietta  Maria,  170 

Geneva,  49  ff. 

Henry  II.  (France),  46,  122  /,  124 

Genoa,  Republic  of,  335 

Henry  III.  (France),  132,  133 

Gensonne,  293 

Henry  IV.  (Henry  of  Navarre),  129, 

George  I.,  254/. 

131,   132  ;    abjures   Protestantism, 

George  II.,  255,  261 

133/;  and   House  of  Hapsburg, 

George  III,,  246,  261  /. 

135 ;  assassinated,  136 

4i6 


Index 


Henry  V.  (England),  22 

Henry  VI.  (England),  23 

Henry  VII.  (England),  23/ 

Henry  VIII. ,  40,  68,  70  /  ;  foreign 
policy,  78 ;  marriages,  72,  78 ; 
head  of  church,  75  ;  Protestant- 
ism of,  76,  79 

Hesse,  384 

Hohenfriedberg,  battle  of,  240 

HohenzoUern,  230  f. 

Holland,  112,  187 ;  aids  Maria 
Theresa,  240 ;  and  French  Revo- 
lution, 302,  315,  325  ;  breach  with 
Belgium,  347 

Holies,  178 

Holy  Alliance,  336 

Holy  League,  16,  70,  132,  133,  143, 

145 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  11,  13,  317 
Home,  Count,  105,  107 
Howard,  Lord,  97 
Hubertsburg,  Peace  of,  246 
Hudson  Bay  Territory,  213 
Hugo,  Grotius,  117 
Huguenots,  124  /,  128  ;  and  Edict 

of  Nantes,  134/.;  a  political  party, 

136  ff.;    leave    France,  208;     in 

Prussia,  233 
Humanists,  32/.;  68^.;  121 
Hundred  Days,  the,  331 
Hungary,  366^. 
Hutten,  Ulrich  von,  32,  38 

Ibrahim,  339 

Incas,  9 

Independents,  the,  181 

India,  5,  9,  10  ;  Enghsh  in,  261 

Indulgencies,  34,  48 

Inquisition,  in  Spain,  22 ;  first  or- 
ganized, 57,  66 ;  in  the  Nether- 
lands, 102  f.;  105 

Ireland,  98 ;  colonization  of  Ulster, 
168  ;  subdued  by  Cromwell,  184  ; 
Act  of  Union,  263  ;  relation  to  Eng- 
land, 249  jf. ;  at  present  time,  396/ 

Ironsides,  179 


Isnard,  293 

Italy,  i^ff.;  and  Holy  Alliance,  335, 
337.  338 ;  July  Revolution  in, 
349  ;  Revolution  of  1848  in,  362/; 
united  Italy,  374^. 

Ivan  III.,  215 

Ivan  IV.,  215 

Ivry,  battle  of,  133 

Jacobins,  282,  294,  302 

Jamaica,  187 

James  I.  (England),  95, 147, 163^ 

James    II.  (England),    194,    196  f.; 

248/ 
James  III.  (the  Pretender),  254 
James  IV.  (Scotland),  71 
Jane  Grey,  82,  83 
Jane  Seymour,  78 
Jeffreys,  197 
Jena,  battle  of,  318 
Jesuits,  sSff-;  142/;  147 
Jews,  66 
Joachim  II.,  231 
Joan  of  Castile,  14 
John  Frederick  of  Saxony,  44 
John  Sigismund,  231 
Jonson,  Ben,  99 
Joseph,  emperor,  212 
Josephine,  324 
Jourdan,  302,  305 
Julius  II.,  72 
July  Revolution,  344  j^ 

Kaunitz,  242/. 
Kellermann,  290 
Kelts,  loi 
Knox,  John,  92 
Kolin,  battle  of,  244 
Kosciusko,  229,  351 
Kossuth,  367 
Kunersdorf,  245 

Lafayette,  276,  279,  280^ 
Lafitte,  344 
Lagos,  battle  of,  261 
Lamartine,  356,  358 
Lancaster,  House  of,  23 


Index 


417 


Landfrieden,  13 

Lun^ville,  Peace  of,  31X 

Lanstande,  233 

Luther,  Martin,  33^. 

La  Rochelle,  138 

Lutheran  Church,  45,  47 

Latimer,  84 

Lutter,  battle  of,  149 

Laud,  174,  177 

Lutzen,  battle  of,  153,  328 

Law  of  Suspects,  295 

Lyons,  298 

League  of  Cambrai,  17 

League  of  Schmalkalden,  42 

Magdeburg,  152 

Lech,  battle  of  the,  153 

Magellan,  6 

Lefebre,  32,  121 

Magenta,  battle  of,  375 

Legislative  Assembly,  2^6  ff. 

Maintenon,  Madame  de,  207/. 

Legitimacy,  principle  of,  333 

Mainz,  45 

Leicester,  earl  of,  114 

Malplaquet,  battle  of,  212 

Leipsic,  battle  of,  328/ 

Mansfeld,  148/ 

Leopold  L  (emperor),  234,  235 

Marat,  282,  289,  293,  295/ 

Leopold  II.  (emperor),  287 

Marengo,  battle  of,  311 

Leopold  (of  Belguim),  347 

Maria  Theresa,  238/  /  242/".  /  246, 

Leopold  of  Hohenzollern,  385/". 

247 

Lepanto,  battle  of,  65 

Marie  Antoinette,  273,  287,  296 

Lesczinski,  Stanislaus,  223/! 

Marie  Louise,  324 

Leuthen,  battle  of,  245 

Marignano,  battle  of,  16,  119 

Ley  den,  110,  iii 

Marlborough,  duke  of,  211,  252 

Ligny,  battle  of,  331 

Marlowe,  Christopher,  252 

Ligurian  Republic,  306 

Margaret  of  Navarre,  121 

Lindet,  294 

Margaret  of  Parma,  104 

Lissa,  battle  of,  378 

Margaret  of  Valois,  130,  136 

Lit  de  Justice,  267 

Marot,  Clement,  122 

Literature  of  seventeenth  century, 

Marston  Moor,  battle  of,  179/ 

199 

Martyrs,  84/ 

Locke,  John,  199 

Mary  (of  England),  73,  79 ;  queen. 

Lombardy,  335 

82  ff.  ;  character,  85 

Lope  de  Vega,  67 

Mary  Stuart,  9off.  ;  125 

Lorraine,  258,  386,  388 

Mary  of  Burgundy,  14,  100 

Louis  XII.,  16,  20 

Massachusetts,  169 

Louis  XIII.,  136 

Matthias,  144,  145 

Louis  XIV.,  193,  200^./  250,  267, 

Maurice  de  Saxe,  241 

273  ;  death  of,  213,  257 

Maurice  of  Nassau,  114,  115, 116 

Louis  XV.,  257/  ;   267,  273 

Maurice  of  Saxony,  44,  45,  123 

Louis  XVI.,  274,  284,  292 

Maximilian  I.,  11,  12  ff. 

Louis  XVII.,  296,  note 

Maximilian  II.,  142 

Louis  XVIII.,  329,  332,  341/ 

Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria,   143, 

Louis  Philippe,  344//  352  y. 

145./. 

Louis  Napoleon,  354,  358 

Maximilian,    Emperor    of    Mexico, 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  55/ 

384/ 

Liibeck,  Peace  of,  149 

Mazarin,  looff. 

Lucca,  335 

Mazzini,  365  /. 

4i8 


Index 


Meaux,  121 

Narva,  battle  of,  222 

Medici,  the,  18,  34 

Naseby,  battle  of,  180 

Medici,  Catharine  de',  125, 

128,  130 

National  Assembly,  276  ff.  ;  282,  285 

Medici,  Marie  de",  136 

National  Convention,  289,  290,  291^. 

Mehemid,  Ali,  339 

National  Guard,  "zygff.  ;  285 

Melancthon,  41 

Navarino,  battle  of,  340 

Metternich,  328,  330,  337,  349 

Navigation  Act,  187 

Metz,  46,  123,  157 

Necker,  274 

Mexico,  7,  8,  384^^ 

Nelson,  308,  320 

Milan,  16,  40,  212 

Netherlands,  63 ;  revolt  of,   100 /".  / 

Milton,  John,  199 

Seven  United  Provinces,  \\2.ff.: 

Minorca,  253 

in  Thirty  Years'  War,  147,  155  ; 

Mirabeau,  277,  282,  284 

declared  free,  158 

Modena,  335 

New  Amsterdam,  192 

Mohammedans,  27 

Newbury,  battle  of,  180 

MoUwitz,  battle  of,  239 

Newfoundland,  213,  253 

Moltke,  von,  383,  386 

New  model,  180 

Monasteries,  76 

Newton,  John,  199 

Mongols,  215 

Ney,  327.  330 

Monk,  George,  188 

Nice,  376 

Monmouth,  duke  of,  196/ 

Nicholas,   Czar,  340,  350^!  /  373^  / 

Montenegro,  405 

402 

Montezuma,  8 

Nimwegen,  Treaty  of,  194,  207,  234 

Moors,  21,  66 

Nordlingen,  battle  of,  154 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  32,  68,  i 

59,76 

Norsemen,  5,  note  ;  215 

Moreau,  305,  311 

North  German  Confederation,  384 

Moscow,  326 

Northern  War,  the,  233 

Mountain,  the,  286,  291/  ; 

293 

Northumberland,  duke  of,  81,  82,  83 

Muhlberg,  battle  of,  44 

Norway,  47 

Munster,  45 

Nova  Scotia,  213,  253 

Murat,  323,  335 

Nystadt,  Treaty  of,  226 

Murillo,  67 

Murray,  Lord,  95 

Gates,  Titus,  195 
O'Connell,  Daniel,  393 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  129,  134/ 

Oldenbarneveldt,  John  of,  114^. 

Naples,  15/  .•  212,  33S/'-/ 

377 

O'Neil.  98 

Napoleon   Bonaparte,  298, 

303:   in 

Orange,  House  of,  206 

Italy,   305,  306  ff.  ;  First 

Consul, 

Osman  Pasha,  404 

310 ;    centralized    administration, 

Ostrolenka,  battle  of,  351 

313;  emperor,   314;  and 

Prussia, 

Otto,  King  of  Greece,  340 

317/:  /    and  Alexander, 

319  /  / 

Oudenarde,  battle  of,  212 

abdication  of,   329 ;   return    from 

Oxenstiem,  Chancellor,  154 

Elba,  330  ;  death,  332 

Oxford  reformers,  69 

Napoleon   II.  (king  of  Rome),  325, 

354 

Pacification  of  Ghent,  in,  112 

Napoleon  III.,  372 ff.;  384^ 

Palatinate,  146,  147  ;  War  of,  209 

Index 


419 


Papacy,  reform  of,  54 

Poland,  221/;  223,  227  ff.;  first  par- 

Parlement, 139//  267 

tition  of,  228  /.;  247  ;    revolution 

Parliament,  under  Elizabeth,  88  ;  un- 

in, 350  /. 

der  James,  166/  /  under  Charles, 

Pole,  Cardinal,  83  / 

169/:/  Short,  176;  Long,  \n  ff.  ; 

Poles,  407 

184,   188  ;   Barebones',   185  ;  Cav- 

Polignac, 343 

alier,  190  y. 

Polish  Succession,  war  of,  258 

Parma,  335 

Pomerania,  156,  232,  234,  236 

Parma,  duke  of,  96,  112 

Pompadour,  Madame  de,  260 

Partition  Treaty,  the,  210 

Popes  :  Alexander  VI.,  6, 19,  30,  53  ; 

Paul  IV.,  54 

Julius  II.,  19,  53,  72;  Leo  X.,  19, 

Pavia,  battle  of,  40,  119 

34.  53,  54 ;    Sixtus,  30  ;   Hadrian 

Peace  :  of  Adrianople,  340,  402  ;  of 

VI.,  54;  Clement  VII.,  73  / 

Augsburg,    141 ;  of  Amiens,   311 ; 

Popish  Plot,  the,  194  / 

of  Breslau,  240  ;  of  Cambray,  41  ; 

Portugal,  65,  322 

of  Paris,  261  /,  329  —  modified, 

Pragmatic  Sanction,  238  /. 

332,  374.  402  ;  of  Prague,  383/;  of 

Pride's  Purge,  182 

San  Stefano,  404  /;  of  Pressburg, 

Prieur,  294 

316 

Printing,  3,  note 

Peasants'  Revolt,  38  / 

Privileged  orders,  268  ff. 

Peru,  7,  8  /. 

Privy  Council,  87/ 

Peter  the  Great,  216  ff,  ;  at  Narva, 

Protectorate,  the,  185  ff. 

222 ;    progress    of,    224  /;    loses 

Protestant  Union,  143,  145 

Azov,  225 

Protestantism:  in  Germany,  142 / ; 

Peter  III.,  227,  246 

147  ;   in  Bohemia,    146  ;    Edict  of 

Petition  of  Right,  171/. 

Restitution,     150;    and  Gustavus 

Phihp   II.  (of  Spain),  46,  61  ff.;  war 

Adolphus,   153;   in  England,  170; 

with  Dutch,  63,  104 ;  the  Armada, 

in  Prussia,  232 

64,  96 ;  acquires  Portugal,  65 

Provence,  count  of,  287 

Philip  III.  (of  Spain),  66/ 

Prussia,  2^0 ff.;   increase  in  power, 

Philip  IV.  (of  Spain).  67 

241   ff;    and  French  Revolution, 

Philip  V.  (of  Spain),  212 

287  ff-;  3^7  /•;  319  ;  revival  of,  327 

Philip,  duke  of  Anjou,  210 

ff.;  war  of  1866.  378,  382  / 

Philip,  duke  of  Orleans,  257  /. 

Pultava,  battle  of,  224 

Philip  Egalite,  296,  344 

Puritans,  89;    and  James  I.,  164/; 

Pichegru,  302 

and  Charles  I.,  174,  189,  191 

Piedmont,  335 

Pym,  178 

Pitt,     William,    earl    of    Chatham, 

Pyrenees,  Treaty  of,  the,  67^  201 

260/ 

Pitt,  William,  the  younger,  263 

Quiberon,  battle  of,  261 

Pius  IX.,  36s 

Pizarro,  7,  8  / 

Rabelais,  122 

Plague,  the,  192 

Radetsky,  363 

Plain,  the,  291  /. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  98,  167  / 

Plassey,  battle  of,  261 

Ramillies,  battle  of,  211 

Plevna,  battle  of,  404 

Rastadt,  Peace  of,  213 

420 


Index 


Reform  Bills,  395 

Ruyter,  admiral,  206 

Reformation:    in  Germany,   2j  ff.; 

Ryswick,  Peace  of,  209 

in  France,  iig  ff.;  124  /,;  131  ;  in 

Switzerland,  48,  49  ;  in  Scandina- 

Sadowa, battle  of,  378,  383 

via,  47  ;  in  England,  68  /;  86 

St.  Bartholomew,   massacre  of. 

95, 

Reformed  Church,  48 

130,  131 

Reichskammergericht,  13 

St.  Germain,  Peace  of,  129 

Reichstag,  388 

St.  Germain-en-Laye,  Treaty  of, 

234 

Reign  of  Terror,  294  / 

St.  Just,  300 

Rembrandt,  117 

St.  Menehauld,  285 

Renaissance,  1 

St.  Petersburg,  224 

Requesens,  110,  iii 

St.  Quentin,  104,  124 

Restoration,  the,  188 

San  Yuste,  46 

Reuchlin,  32 

Sans  Souci,  247 

Revolution  of  1848,  355  ff. 

Sardinia,  15,  375  ff. 

Revolutionary  Tribunal,  295,  302 

Sarto,  Andrea  del,  122 

Richard  III.,  23 

Savonarola,  18 

Richelieu,  136  ff.;  200 

Savoy,  19,  363,  376 

Ridley,  Bishop,  84 

Saxe,  Marshal,  256 

Rivoli,  battle  of,  305 

Scandinavia,  46 

Rizzio,  94 

Scharnhorst,  327 

Robespierre,  277,  282,  285,  289 ;  and 

Schleswig-Holstein,   361  /,•  370 

// 

Committee  of  Public  Safety.  294  ; 

381/ 

and  Hebertists,  299;  fall  of,  300/ 

Scotland,     71,    op   ff. ;      war    v 

'ith 

Roger-Ducos,  310 

Charles  I.,  176,  180 ;    subdued 

by 

Roland,  Madame,  297 

Cromwell,  184  ;  union  with  Eng- 

Romanoff, House  of,  216 

land,  253 

Rome,    sack    of,    40,    119;    against 

Sebastopol,  374 

Italy,  378 

Sedan,  battle  of,  387 

Rossbach,  battle  of,  244,  261 

Self-Denying  Ordinance,  180 

Roumania,  403,  405,  406 

Separatists,  89/  ;  168/ 

Roundheads,  178,  199 

September  massacres,  290 

Rousseau,  271,  273 

Servetus,  52 

Royal  Society,  199 

Servia,  405,  406 

Rubens,  118 

Seven  Years'  War,  243/: ,   260 

Rudolph  II.,  142 

Sforza  family,  16 

Rump  Parliament,  177,  182  ff. 

Shakespeare,  99 

Rupert,  Prince,  179,  i8o 

Ship-money  ordinances,  175,  177 

Rurik,  215 

Siberia,  216 

Russia,  215  ff.;  224  //  under  Catha- 

Sicily, IS,  377 

rine  II.,  227  ff.;  and  French  Revo- 

Si^yes, 277,  282,  310 

lution,  309,  311,  325  ff.;  territorial 

Silesia,  234/  ;  239/".  ;  246 

acquisition,  334  ;  and  Greek  Revo- 

Six Articles,  the,  77/. 

lution,  340;   and   Poland,   350// 

Slavs,  230,  390 

and  Crimean   War,   373  /;    and 

Solferino,  battle  of,  375 

Balkan  Peninsula,  400  ff. 

Soliman  the  Magnificent,  43 

Index 


421 


Somerset,  duke  of,  79/  ;  81 

Thirty-nine  Articles,  80,  88 

Sophia  (of  Hanover),  251 

Thirty  Years'  War,  138,  141-156 

Sophia  (of  Russia),  216 

Thorn,  Treaty  of,  232 

Sorbonne,  the,  121 

Tilly,  148/  ;  ISO,  152,  153 

Soult,  Marshal,  329 

Tilsit,  Peace  of,  319/ 

Spain  ;  21  .ff;  under  Charles  V.,  59 

Tlascalans,  8 

ff.  ;  acquires  Portugal,  65/ 

;  war 

Toleration  Act,  198 

in  Netherlands,  108  ff.  ;  and  Na- 

Tories, 195/ 

poleon,   322  /  ;    war  with 

Eng- 

Torquemada  Tomas  de,  22 

land,  255/  ;  reaction  in,  336^. 

Toul,  46,  123,  157 

Spanish  colonies,  7 

Toulon,  298 

Spanish  literature  and  art,  67 

Trafalgar,  320 

Spanish  Netherlands,  118,  205, 

212 

Travendal,  Peace  of,  222 

Spanish  Succession,  war  of,  210/".  ; 

Treaty  :  of  Pyrenees,  6j  ;  of  West- 

251, 252 

phalia,  6rj,  156/".  ;  of  Edinburgh, 

Spenser,  Edmund,  99 

92  ;  St.  Germain,  129 

Spinoza,  117 

Tricolor,  280 

Stamp  Act,  262 

Tripoli,  42 

Star  Chamber,  177 

Tunis,  42 

States  of  the  Church,  335 

Tunnage  and  Poundage,  172 _^ 

States-General,  139/.  ;  275 

Turenne,  155,  206 

Stein,  327 

Turgot,  274 

Stettin,  237 

Turin,  Peace  of,  305 

Strafford,  earl  of,  174/  ;  I77 

Turkey,  225,  227,  229,  339^ 

Stralsund,  149 

Turko-Russian  Wars,  402,  403,  404 

Strasburg,  207 

Turks,  13,  14,  note  ;  and  Venice,  17 ; 

Streltse,  the,  217,  219 

in  Germany,  42  ;    and  Francis  I, , 

Strode,  178 

43  ;  in  Spain,  59 ;  war  with  Philip 

Sully,  13s 

II.,  64/;  and  Peter  the  Great,  218 

Sweden,  47  ;  in  Thirty  Years' 

War, 

Tuscany,  18,  335 

147,  149,   150^.  ;  defeat  of  Nord- 

Two  Sicilies,  Kingdom  of,  335 

lingen,  154;  a  great  power,  221^  ; 

Tyrol,  316 

227  ;  and  Louis  XIV.,  234 

Swiss  Guard,  288 

Ulrica  Eleanor,  226 

Switzerland,  48^  ;  158 

Union  of  Calmar,  47 
Union  of  Utrecht,  112,  116 

Talleyrand,  330 

Utrecht,  Peace  of,  212,  253 

Test  Act.  194,  393 

Tetzel,  34 

Valmy,  battle  of,  290 

Teutonic  Knights,  231,  232 

Valois,  House  of,  133 

Teutons,  loi 

Van  Dyck,  n8 

Thermidoreans,  Rule  of,  301/ 

Van  Tromp,  187 

Thiers,  353,  355,  389 

Varennes,  285 

Third  Coalition,  316 

Vasa,  House  of,  47 

Third  Estate,  270/,  ;  275 

Vasco  de  Gama,  5 

Third  Republic,  387,  389/ 

Vassy,  massacre  of,  128 

422 


Index 


Vaubon,  211 

Velasquez,  67 

Vendee,  298  f. 

Venice,  17,  316,  335,  378 

Verdun,  46,  123,  157 

Vergniaud,  293 

Versailles,  213 

Versailles,  Peace  of,  262 

Vervins,  Peace  of,  135 

Victor   Emmanuel   II.,  364,  374/".; 

Vienna,  Peace  of,  324  ;  Congress  of, 

329/ 
Villars,  Marshal,  211 
Vinci,  Leonardo  de,  122 
Virginia,  168 
Visconti  family,  16 
Voltaire,  242,  271,  273 
Voyages  of  discovery,  3,  4  ff. 

Wagram,  battle  of,  324 
Waldensian  massacre,  122 
Wallenstein,  148  ff.;  death  of,  154 
Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  255  / 
War  of  the  Roses,  23 
Washington,  262 
Waterloo,  battle  of,  331 
Wellington,  duke  of,  324,  329,  330, 

392.  393 
Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  174/  ;  177 
Westphalia,  319 


Westphalia,  Peace  of,  67,  115,  139, 
156  ff. ;  158/  ;  201,  232 

Wexford,  184 

Whigs,  195/. 

White  Hills,  battle  of,  146 

William,  Prince  of  Orange,  103,  105, 
107  ff.  ;  Stadtholder,  109  ;  death 
of,  113 

William  I.  (Prussia),  380  ff.  ;  Em- 
peror, 388 

William,  king  of  Holland,  347 

WiUiam  and  Mary,  198  ff.  ;  210, 
248,  249 ;  constitution  develops 
under,  252 

Windischgraetz,  367 

Witt,  John  de,  205,  206 

Wolfe,  261 

Wolsey,  Thomas,  71,  74 

Worcester,  battle  of,  184 

Worms,  Diet  of,  36  ;    Edict   of^   37, 

Worth,  battle  of,  386 
Wurtemberg,  316,  383,  384 
Wiirzburg,  45 

York,  House  of,  23 
Yorktown,  262 
Young,  Arthur,  271 
Young  Pretender,  257 

I  Zomdorf,  battle  of,  245 
'  Zwingli,  Ulrich,  48 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


425 


10  u 
O  t> 


lO  u 


i 

+ 

i 

1 

0 

.3 

P^ 

t 

u 

— *©  — 

0 

> 

a 

> 

J 

y^ 

M 

i! 

b 

1 

6 

e4 

3 

g 

u 

(72 

> 

'3) 
0 

13 

Si 

5~ 

-s 

1 

fU 

'5 

< 

1 

iT 

W 

.s 

a 

c3 

1 

.1 

10 

E 

W 

< 

e 

2. 

+ 

•1 

0 

w 

§ 

1/1 

3 

P4 

tS 

1 

< 

1 

V? 

0 

t4 

, 

J 

3 

<5 

1 

a 

>o 

*"~' 

_; 

ffi 

U 

^ 

•o 

c 

"0 

+ 

c 

rt 

ti^ 

c 

c 

c« 

;3 

0 

rt 

a  — 

s 

-s- 

C/2 

1 

In 

tt 

u 

1 

^ 

2 

> 

0 

^ 

w 

P4 
G 

'w' 

Ul   . 

d 

(4 

bfl 

s 

1? 

■a '8, 

Q 

i 
1 

3 

1 

+ 

V 

2^ 

II 

^ 

3 

-1 

Sc 

1^ 

< 

i 

"ol 

K 

< 

'B 

1 

S-B 

>-H    ** 

s 

i 

? 

.& 

o._ 

C/3 

c 

^ 

'5  — 

0 

!H 

< 

ft 

C 

.2 

ex 

a« 

o 

u 


fa    fa 


E^ 

?" 

2  2 
«  J! 

in  0< 

SI 

3j 


6.S 
•c  « 


bdE 


a.     "o 


w  in 

HO 

tToo 

O   -' 

I2 

cE 

E 
o 
Pi 

o 


So 


11 


u-S 


rt  E^o 


426 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


S 

+ 

*o 

3 

1 

P 

g 

1 

"s 

^ 

t> 

13 

5: 

1 

c/5 

O 

.-: 

3 

Q 

< 

c4 
O 

V, 

_-s 

^W 

O 

•-' 

s 

2 

^ 

^ 

3 

— ^- 

-l-l- 

:s 

b 

O 

T3 

o 
»— > 

■^   s 

I 

oc 

rt 

c 

^  &: 

, 

O 

c 

1 

J 

(4 

o 

< 
> 

> 

6 

«o 

<« 

0\ 

J2 

1 

^ 

>. 

< 

o 

"T 

— C 
u 

C/2 
t— I 

^ 

"o 

s 

X 

O 

% 

V 

c 

< 

4- 

Q 

u 

> 

.2 

X 

fa 

o 

0) 

~3  — 
O 

A 

e 

i 

O! 

M 

1 

In 

"T 

CD 

J3 

o 

-I 

>< 

ID 

o 

? 

u 

g 

><       rt 

S 

M 

_i 

n     "-5 

W 

"■3-g- 

H 

6 

l    0 

'o 

U 
O 

^2; 

c^ 

< 

^-gr 

0^ 

(X4 

11  rt 

.2S 

I 

-ca 

2 

>-K 

h 

^ 

' 

■^^^^ 

M 

roC 

'^         » 

■•             CO 

11 

i  ^ 

r  ^ 

^03 

S  "^^ 

»:7  o 

>  > 

'  ^ 

>S 

09         « 

1     X 

M 

ll 

— "u — 1 

n     <i 

3 

«s 

05     j: 

•       O 

u    c 

»       J 

u 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


427 


^     i 


C/3 

iz; 

< 

w 

>w 

o-- 

H-l 

"^•^ 

s^ 

>  w 

0 

•oS 

•^ 

1^ 

.3 

0 

m2 

« 

Pi 

ii 

II 

3 
< 

^ 

OJ 

0 

§ 

'0 

V 

c 

c 

< 

Q 

V 

^ 

i 

^ 
< 

& 

'0 

■^ 

^ 

I 

I 

^ 

£ 

% 

VC 

0 

<: 

^ 

« 

T3 

^ 

0 

1) 
C 
C 

> 

>< 

-.2 

'3 

6 

u 

0 

fe 

53 

h) 

0 

1 

(n 

p 

W 

w 

C/2 

>«• 

D 

0 

0 

ffi 

<! 

M    -5 

00       O      .5 
•I       0      ►*< 


■^      P^ 


,     vl-     f^ 


»»  c 

,  O 


H      1 


>    o 


^     J     J     ^ 


a 

o 
u 


o  *-< 


O^ 


•c    "H 


f     ox 

3        O  « 


1: 


>    I 


3  ^ 


o      S 


428 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


^ 

■^ 

>< 

o«-b 

o 

f 

£ 

•a 

^ 

c 

^ 

^ 

JS 

■jf 

vSpq'^ 

o 

o 

« 

T«7 

u 

Vi 

2 

^sj* 

^ 

t 

.T-OvT- 

w 

c 

c 

^ 

ffi 

fc2 

K 

> 

H 

> 

'^ 

II- 

-09 

O 

fO 

"t^ 

E 

o 

(0 
V 

e 

ej 

11- 

rt 

00 

> 

—  eo_ 
u 

B 

fd 
•— > 

1 

1 

—I 

> 

jj 

c 

> 

12; 

o 

<i 

^ 

3 

ffi 

i 

o 

12; 

.0 

>< 

< 

II 

S 

, 

h^ 

? 

'^ 

>^ 

o< 

V—- 

■0  55 

< 

m 

II- 

Ih     1 
Clt    t^ 

1^ 

00 

c 

^2? 

H 

•o^ 

OJ 

^• 

m 

U 

e^- 

> 

S 

g 

c 

c 

< 

^-k 

"^ 

V 

'n 

n  1 

H 

X 

II  — 

b 

1^ 

^* 

O 

i^ 

w^ 

y 

1 

O) 

_ 

ti 

^ 

O 

> 

ffi 

>, 

1 

—  c 

^ 

H 

X 

^00 

tl 


sj;? 


?^ 


o      o     -a      o 


^  S. 


•Obi, 


II 


w     O     O 


-^ 


Q     - 


W     > 


2- 

'-'13 
«:  a, 

13  2 


s 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


429 


ll 

h 
H 


Mo 
2v8 


c  a 


i.     ^ 


fa..-     4 

Si:   ►^ 

fa  u 


+     6     E 

^     J>i     X 
"     .-     .y 


fa     fa 


^  00 

ifl  00 

I  «' 

8  a 

^  o 

00  *" 


6  ::  c 

s  .y  u: 

kT  'C  ."3 

^  -s  ^ 


430 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


■^ 

? 

c 

-1 

1. 

'u 

.2 

^ 

^ 

s 

1 

Q 

O 

s 

N 

^ 

Eli 

i-i 

'in 

vo-< 

H 

w 

Jd  . 

^C- 

H 

t^ 

•He- 

M     O 

/-4 

s 

o 

1 
o 

«3  o 
1/1. s 

•"IB 

Ad 

1 

1 

yJ  K  S  , 
S>  S  -  d 

o 

"1" 

0. 

-1- 

0,0 

3 
5 

Jill 

z   <  •<  z 

Q 

Iz;       -^ 

. 

<:      ^ 

^   ? 

fe     i 

?    t 

o     ;r 

1 

o 

a< 

o 

Qi 

§ 

+ 

C/3 

> 

. 

. 

O 

—  c_ 
> 

1 

t-J 

ffi 

c 

~l| 

u 

s 

tS""* 

:i: 

~a 

< 

H 

< 

^ 

»-H 

Jg 

^ 

O 

tt 

-i. 

•  o 

1 

00 

si 

1*     « 

^•f 

P 

1 

"1    •< 

-c    . 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


43t 


u 

Pi 

pq 

N 
N 
•J 

en 
< 
> 

Q 
< 

< 
> 

O 

en 
W 
en 

O 

w 

H 


•s 

•3 

(] 

•is 

'^ 

e«  ** 

fJ>^ 

iW 

Mt»< 

«o  o 

^8 

g 

SI 

2 

^  p. 

c« 

tl 

1 

<:| 

CI 

•-« 

^-^ 

u 

e( 

3 

a 

-rt  — 

~.2 

to 

Wi 

2 

^ 

O 

U 

«  i        o 

si     ^ 


_w 


S  <n 


r     v8 


o  a 


6-1 


"  6 


^     ego 

vO        ii  O   0> 

^     E-o  o 


M  O.  g 


se* 


432 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


6§ 


t) 

< 

C/3 

<J 

^ 

w 

o 

^ 

< 

(4 

o 

fe 

o 

w 

C/2 

^ 

/^ 

o 

00 

-^ 

K 

>n 

VO 

+ 

w 

-— ' 

+ 

^ 

ffi 

<-• 
g 

>» 

1 

f-l 

u 

c/5 

C 

+ 

< 

.2 

o 
— 'C- 
u 
•a 
u 

s 

.2 

(ii 

i 

fe 

1 

W 

W 

H 

W 

^ 

ffi 

^ 

CJ 

.3 

H 

VO 

D 

+ 

Q 

u 

W 

— 'C 

ffi 

3 

Cli 

H 

S 

t^         ■*         w 


«     C 


.E_E_E. 


i^^^^^M 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


433 


x; 


5    > 


u 
§ 


i  I 


»  7 

*^  >0  CO 

^-N  t^  00 

00  00  w 


™  TO  O  O 

-  C  — S  —  M  —  to 

fa     ^     <    < 


■3  £;■ 


434 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


X 


.5  rt 

-I- 


i   ^ 


—  3  ci 

I— I     (U 


o  X"^ 
^2 


CO  u) 

^' o  c  «  ft 


111 


e  C 


c  o 


MAPS 

i.  europe  during  the  reformation. 

2.  the  netherlands  at  the  truce  of  1609. 

3.  germany    at    the    commencement   of   the    thirty 

years'  war. 

4.  england  and  wales january  i,   1 643. 

5.  western  europe,   showing   the  principal  changes 

effected   by  the   treaties  of  utrecht  and  ras- 

TADT,     I  7 13-14. 

6.  EUROPE,    ILLUSTRATING     WARS     OF     CHARLES      XII.     AND 

PETER   THE    GREAT. 

7.  EUROPE  AT  THE    TIME  OF  THE    GREATEST  EXPANSION    OF 

napoleon's    POWER,    l8l2. 

8.  EUROPE    AFTER    THE    CONGRESS   AT    VIENNA. 

9.  THE    BALKAN    PENINSULA    IN    THE    YEAR    1 88 1. 


Longitude    15*^    West  from     10"     Greenwich  S'" 


Longilude 


1  1 

EUROPE   / 
during  the  Reformation. 

■~^  SCALK  OF  MILES. 


^. 


9S 


-m:\i 


vK-ti  O  R  w 


VA/ 


^^ 


«z3' 


^       7^      // 


»  E 


*'0(hp 


^ford 


^  /Bremen' 


^OoCnt  o^■<^|j^~'^    \^°'°8ne 


''ersoj.'  J  CO 


vervTns"'' — 


,o  -o  Trier  MJ  ... 
Tfxertrtmrg  .{worms 


'I  ■     " 


^*"^-«       A/nbSlf-'^'"'""' 


Tour 


.JV 


Charoll] 


ijyoV  L  /  JV:.  .;(£U9 


"■ange 

•**>SI10D>.L  ' 


r'o^ 


Marspiiies 


i 


i  ^T  ul 


/ 


f 

1 

i 
1      . 

L 

TTJ 


Eccltsiattiial  States  la    1 1 

the  haudt  ofJ^ntestants  I I 


Do.iTi  the  handi  i — "i 
of  CatkoUc*  I I 


"Mle^laM  Lay  States  □  JMjminioiu  of  the  lay  li'aiuhe^  I 1 

'atholie i!^«__CZl.       __  uf  l/ie  Ifoime  of  A»i<.:  ia L_J 


Jtugaell^ Struthtrs.N.Y.  \^ 


=i^J 


"t 


vw^~w 


(-. 


■^ 


v>-. 


2    c 


V    £ 


.1  I  -nx 


Louyitude  Eatt  5-     /rom 


'^ 


EUROPE 

at  the  Time  of  the  Greatest  Expansioo 

of 

NAPOLEON'S  POWER.  1812. 

SCAX.B  OP  MILES. 


V 


x> 


<r> 


^"do 


ilogue 


^Cologne 
-hapelle 


\j: 


{farls 


n 


■""'••"■noblea, 


N^ 


iJ  d 


m 


^tsti^ 


Jirth^. 


"'■agoza/ 


^>i»ORR.iP. 


/"IIKLVETK    J] 


J/^z>/r^^|^,,^.^^,^ 


r*.  M.-X.Co.,BvffaU>,  A'.  I'. 


Lonyitudt        K 


I  r 


■Lu 


^^ 


Lonifitude  £aat     5°  /n 


Boundary  of  German  Coufcdtraiiou,  thus: 

Prussia  in  1815,  thus  : I  "I 

Othcc  German   Territory,   thus; 1  1 


EUROPE 

after  the  Congress  at  Vienna,    ^ 


^ 


1815. 

SCALE  OP  MILES. 


160  :30 


KILOMKTKRS. 


<o 


;0      if   \Breiv 

J{  liJ 

ntwefp  ^    Nf?Y 


Am»lera«in 


Bou]o 


russels   -^ 


/  /VCciloimeA 


"^y^r.e      «•, 


o 


^iuieas'S     — 5—-— —4    "^  "  •V       »  ' 

"out'n  /-'"^  Sedans    >-^       "'■*y/      (iMa.vcijft) 

^'e»-saT;i(.;y!^^    rS^'^'~-'-K(^     ^!'v^lottel,"y<^- ^''' 


Orleans 


^^4r 


y^y         -'•llltes 


Dijou 


H 


Toulfl 


JV 


.Marseilles  J 


Corslcap 

<; 
^lEDlfERRANEAN 

(:r3 


^       fi^    Sax  o y      r  of  Saxony,.>" J  -\  "\.  \  ^        /  \         /"'^  ^J^^V-" — '''' 


£ 


.^     aS     \ 


I      TyrjW        )  CaV-lJth 


1     Munich 


> 


A  u^tTr  i  II       \^ 


V  1  ^ 


:^!A!^  4  ^.«^' "^v^'-^^;':.*V 


x 


/     /:•. 


^ 


>/.hV'^ 


-A  ^ 


30^  Oreenwich 


B 


s 


THE 

BALKAN    PENINSULA 

IN    THE   YEAR    1881. 


lEkivtcrinoslav 


?.„?? 

so 

SCALE  OF  MILKS 

20 

'^ 

1^ 

,,'," 

KILOMETKRS 

100         ISO       500 

IbO 

?oo 

p. 


Crimea 


'^en     of    Azof 


SebastoiJolJ 
Balaklavi^ 


LACK 


E      A 


'-^'^^y 


l^rulii'oi^'^ 


Ami"' 


& 


M 


Konia 


Kaisatiy*-'*^ 


Aflana^ 
Tarsus 


Cyprus^- 


E     A 


Ximasol 


,AU-ppo 


Jlrivroli 


3  Beirut 


Bit\i« 

S            1  D«a 

betif 

°\]rfa       Vl 

\ 

•}Sos«\ 

I 



,a»t       30"  from  Greenwich 


3^^  /  oPatittftscus 


AUH/. 


Recent  Works  on  History 

EUROPE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGE 

By  OLIVER  J.  THATCHER  and  FERDINAND  SCH  VILL, 
Professors  of  History  in  the  University  of  Chicago.  With 
lo  maps.    680  pages,  i2mo,  $2.00  net. 

Existing  histories  of  the  Middle  Age,  upon  which  so  much 
light  has  been  thrown  by  the  researches  of  recent  years,  are 
either  summary  in  treatment  or  minutely  expansive,  and  not 
infrequently  devoted  to  certain  phases  of  the  subject  at  the 
expense  of  others. 

This  work  aims  to  avoid  both  extremes,  being  sufficiently 
complete  and  comprehensive  for  the  college  student,  while  at 
the  same  time  not  neglecting  the  necessity  for  conciseness  of 
statement.  Its  purpose  is  to  serve  as  a  text-book  for  Freshman 
or  Sophomore  classes,  and  it  is  based  on  the  authors'  long  experi- 
ence as  teachers  in  Chicago  University.  The  period  covered  is 
from  the  First  Century  to  the  Italian  Renaissance  in  the  Six- 
teenth Century. 

Numerous  maps  and  chronological  tables  add  much  to  the 
usefulness  of  the  book. 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Preface.  XII.  The  Growth  of  the  Papacy. 

Introduction.  XIII.  The  Struggle  Between  the 

I.  Europe:  Its  Peoples  and  the                           Papacy  and  the  Empire 

Christian  Church.  (1056-1254). 

II.  The  Migrations     of  the    Na-            XIV.  Monasticism. 

tions.  XV.  Mohammed,    Mohammed- 

III.  The  History  of  the  New  Chris-  anism,    and     the     Cru- 

tian  German  States.  sades. 

IV.  The   Reaction  of  the  Empire  XVI.  The  Development     of  the 

Against  the  Germans  Cities,   More  Especially 

V.  The  Franks  (481-814).  in  France. 

VI.  The    Dismemberment    of  the  XVII.  Italy 

Empire  XVIII.  France  (i  108-1494).      Eng- 

VII.  The       Political      History     of  land  (1070-1485). 

France  (887-1108).  XIX.  The  Lesser    Countries    of 

VIII.  Germany  and   Its  Relation  to  Europe  to  1500. 

Italy  (887-1056).  XX.  Germany  (1254-1493). 

IX.  England    and    the    Norsemen  XXI.  The  Papacy  (1250-1450). 

(802-1070).  XXII.  The     Civilization    of    the 

X.  The  Normans  in  Italy.  Middle  Age. 

XI.  Feudalism.  XXIII.  The  Italian  Renaissance. 

"I  have  taken  pleasure  in  examining  the  book  which  seems  to  be  well 
adapted  to  supplement  a  good  lecture  course.  .  .  .  The  book  is  done  in  a 
scholarly  and  workmanlike  manner  that  must  commend  it.  The  perspective 
is  good,  and  I  notice  some  statements  of  important  facts  that  are  admirable  in 
brevity  and  clearness."— Prof.  E.  A.  Start,  Tufts  College. 

"  It  is  evident  at  a  glance  that  it  is  a  book  of  a  very  superior  order.  It  not 
only  embodies  the  facts  which  are  necessary  to  a  proper  conception  of  the 
period,  but  presents  them  in  a  form  that  cannot  fail  to  prove  interesting  to  the 
reader.  On  this  ground,  no  less  than  for  its  scientific  accuracy,  I  believe  the 
book  will  be  welcomed  by  teachers  and  students." 

—Prof.  J.  H.  DuBBs,  Franklin  and  Marshall  College. 


RECENT  WORKS   ON  HISTORY 

"  I  shall  use  the  book  next  term  with  the  Sophomore  class.  While  the 
arrangement  is  somewhat  peculiar  it  corresponds  more  nearly  to  my  ideas  of 
what  is  adapted  to  a  college  class  begiiming  the  study  of  mediaeval  history 
than  any  other  text-book  before  the  public." 

—Richard  A.  Rice,  Professor  in  Williams  College. 

"  Professors  Thatcher  and  Schwill,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  are  the 
joint  authors  of  this  attractive  volume  of  650  pages,  intended  as  a  text-book 
for  Freshmen  or  Sophomores.  They  have  learned  the  need  of  such  a  work, 
even  by  the  side  of  Prof.  G.  B.  Adams  and  Prof.  E.  Emerton's  recent  volumes', 
and  they  seem  to  have  supplied  this  need  with  skill  and  adequate  scholarship.' 
Their  twenty-three  chapters  include  especially  good  treatments  of  the  migra- 
tion of  the  nations,  feudalism,  monasticism,  Mohammedanism,  the  civilization 
of  the  Middle  Age  and  the  Italian  Renaissance.  The  style  is  well  adapted  to 
the  class-room,  being  free  from  rhetoric,  clear  and  flowing.  Altogether  the 
book  marks  a  great  advance  in  its  line."— Z'A^  Literary  World. 

"  It  embraces  more  topics  than  might  be  supposed  to  come  within  the 
limits  of  its  title,  but  this  makes  it  all  the  more  useful,  not  only  to  students, 
for  whom  it  was  designed,  but  for  those  whose  time  forbids  extended  research 
on  subjects  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Middle  Ages.  .  .  .  The 
book  deals  with  history  in  its  true  sense,  and  not  with  the  mere  record  of 
dynasties  and  battles.  The  authors  are  teachers,  and  their  work  shows  that 
they  understand  what  it  has  been  most  difficult  to  find— a  simple,  accurate, 
comprehensive  text-book  rather  than  a  monograph."— ^roc'^/yw  Daily  Eagle. 

"The  best  sources  of  information  have  been  consulted;  the  information  is 
conveyed  in  exceedingly  lucid  statements,  and  the  book  certainly  fills  a  gap 
in  the  literature  of  college  studies.  It  can  be  most  heartily  commended  to  the 
confidence  of  teachers  and  students."— CA^Vra^i?  Advance. 

"The arrangement,  too,  is  original,  forcible,  and  thoroughly  logical,  and 
the  literary  style,  with  its  short,  direct,  clearly  wrought  sentences,  is  well  cal- 
culated to'attract  and  hold  attention.  One  would  be  almost  willing  to  assert 
that  Professors  Thatcher  and  Schwill  have  produced  the  ideal  hand-book  on 
the  history  of  mediaeval  'E.ViXO^^."— Boston  Beacon. 

"  As  instructors  in  the  University  of  Chicago  these  authors  have  been 
able  to  judge  accurately  of  the  needs  of  undergraduate  students  and  have  en- 
deavored, we  should  say  with  a  large  measure  of  success,  to  meet  these  require- 
ments   .    .    .    the  book  is  entitled  to  the  place  of  an  authoritative  work." 

—Public  Opinion. 

A  SHORT  HISTORY  OF  MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

By  OLIVER  J.  THATCHER,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  History  In 
the  University  of  Chicago.  With  Maps,  lamo,  340  pages, 
$1.25  net. 

The  publication  of  such  a  volume  as  this  has  been  frequently 
urged  by  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  author's  well- 
known  larger  work,  "  Europe  in  the  Middle  Age.''  The  volume 
covers  the  history  of  Europe  from  the  First  Century  to  the 
Italian  Renaissance  in  the  Sixteenth.  It  is  admirably  adapted 
in  every  respect  for  use  as  a  high-school  text-book. 

•'  To  compress  within  a  single  volume  the  history  of  so  long  a  period  is 
indeed  a  difficult  task.  Still,  the  author  has  successfully  accomplished  it  in 
the  volume  now  before  us.  It  is  complete  and  comprehensive,  and  admirably 
adapted  for  use  as  a  text-book  in  high  and  preparatory  schools  and  for  the 
general  reader  as  well.  No  other  single  volume  can  be  found  which  compares 
with  thjs  in  sao^^.^'— The  Journal  of  Education. 


RECENT    WORKS  ON  HISTORY 

•'  The  material  is  well  classified,  clearly  and  concisely  stated.  In  dealing 
with  the  intricacies  of  mediaeval  detail  historians  are  apt  to  lose  sight  of 
prominent  features— to  immerse  civil  and  moral  tendencies  in  a  strictly  chron- 
ological narrative.  The  endeavor  in  the  present  history  is  to  bring  into  bold 
relief  the  principles  which  underwent  evolution  during  this  confused  period  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  show  origin,  development  and  results.  In  fact,  the  book 
is  a  social  and  civil  study.  Aided  by  excellent  maps  and  chronological  tables, 
the  book  is  an  unusual  production  in  the  way  of  school  histories,  efficient  and 
well  adapted  to  class  woxVy— Boston  Transcript. 

"  Long  stretches  of  time  must  be  passed  over  with  brief  mention,  of 
course,  when  the  story  of  so  many  centuries  is  covered  in  a  single  volume, 
but  the  author  has  been  able,  by  always  bearing  in  mind  the  continuity  of 
history,  to  make  his  narrative  more  ititeresting  than  such  works  usually  are." 

—Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

"  The  book  is  good  for  the  school,  and  for  public  and  private  libraries.  It 
will  answer  every  ordinary  purpose  as  a  work  of  reference.  Surely  a  book  so 
much  needed,  so  useful,  so  delightful,  and  appealing  to  so  large  a  class  of 
readers  cannot  fail  to  find  wide  acceptance  and  take  an  assured  place." 

—Boston  Advertiser. 


A   HISTORY  OF   MODERN   EUROPE 

By  FERDINAND  SCH  7ILL,  Ph.D.,  Instructor  in  Modern 
History  in  the  University  of  Chicago.  Crown  8vo,  450  pages. 
$1.50  net. 

The  lack  of  any  one-volume  text-book  covering  this  period 
of  history  has  been  so  generally  recognized  as  to  be  frequently 
commented  upon,  though  works  on  particular  epochs  or  phases 
of  European  History  are  almost  beyond  reckoning  in  numbers. 
Dr.  Sch  /ill  is  the  first  to  provide  a  single  volume  covering  the 
course  of  events  in  Europe  from  the  Italian  Renaissance  to  the 
present  day.  The  book  is  intended  to  fill  the  needs  of  High 
School  and  College  classes,  and  to  serve  as  a  manual  for  the  gen- 
eral student.  Indeed  the  reading  public  at  large  will  find  it  spe- 
cially attractive  as  well  as  instructive.  To  one  with  limited  time 
at  his  disposal,  seeking  to  gain  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the 
last  three  eventful  centuries  in  Europe,  Dr.  Schwill's  work  is  of 
invaluable  service. 

The  usefulness  of  the  volume  is  enhanced  by  numerous 
maps,  bibliographies  at  the  beginning  of  each  chapter,  and 
genealogical  tables,  while  a  clear  topical  arrangement  guides 
systematic  study. 

Used  in  sequence  to  "  Europe  in  the  Middle  Age,"  or  the 
smaller  book,  "A  Short  History  of  Mediaeval  Europe,"  the 
"History  of  Modern  Europe"  completes  a  course  in  General 
European  History  in  harmony  with  the  best  and  most  widely 
recognized  principles  of  historical  study. 


RECENT  WORKS  ON  HISTORY 

THE  OXFORD  MANUALS  OF  ENGLISH  HISTORY 

Edited  by  C.  W.  C.  OMAN,  M.A.,  P.S.A..  Fellow  of  All  Souls  ColIeg:e, 
Oxford.  The  Series  consists  of  six  volumes,  bound  in  neat  cloth, 
with  maps,  genealogies,  and  index.    Price.  50  cents  net,  each. 

I.-THE   MAKING  OF  THE  ENGLISH   NATION  (55  B.C.-1135  A.D.). 

By  C.  G.  Robertson,  B.  A.,  Fellow  of  All  Souls  College. 
11 —KING  AND  BARONAGE  (A.D.  1135-1328).    By  W.  H.  Hutton,  B.D., 

Fellow  and  Tutor  of  St.  John's  College. 
III.— THE  HUNDRED  YEARS'  WAR  (A.D.  1328-1485).    By  C.  W.  C.  Oman, 

M.A.,  Editor  of  the  series. 
IV.— ENGLAND  AND  THE  REFORMATION  (A.D.  1485-1603).    By  G.  W. 

Powers,  M.A.,  sometime  Scholar  of  New  College, 
v.— KING  AND  PARLIAMENT  (A.D.  1603-1714).     By  G.  H.  Wakeling, 

M.A.,  Fellow  of  Brasenose  College. 
VI.— THE   MAKING  OF   THE   BRITISH   EMPIRE  (A.D.  1714-1832.)    By 

Arthur  Hassall,  M.A.,  Student  and  Tutor  of  Christ  Church. 


AMERICAN   HISTORY   SERIES 

A  Series  of  five  volumes  containing  a  Connected  History  of  the 
United  States  from  the  Discovery  of  America  to  the  present  day,  divided 
into  five  distinct  epochs,  each  of  which  Is  treated  by  a  writer  of 
eminence  and  of  special  authority  In  this  field.  The  volumes  are  sold 
separately,  and  each  contains  maps  and  plans.    Each  lamo,  $1.25. 

THE  COLONIAL  ERA— 1492=1756 

By  QEORae  PARK  FISHER,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in 
Yale  University.    i2mo,  348  pages. 

THE  FRENCH  WAR  AND  THE  REVOLUTION- 1756- 1783 

By  WILLIAM  M.  SLOANE,  Professor  of  History  in  Columbia  Uni- 
versity.   i2mo,  409  pages. 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NATION— 1783-1817 

By    General    FRANCIS    A.  WALKER,  Late  President  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts  Institute  of  Technology.    i2mo,  314  pages. 

THE  MIDDLE  PERIOD— 1817-1860 

By  JOHN  W.  BURGESS,  Professor  of  History,  Political  Science,  and 
International  Law  In  Columbia  University.    i2mo,  $1.75. 

THE  CIVIL  WAR  AND  RECONSTRUCTION-1 860- 1877 
By  JOHN  W.  BURGESS,  Professor  of  History,  Political  Science,  and 
International  Law  in  Columbia  University.    i2mo. 


A  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  FOR  SCHOOLS 
By  WILBUR  F.   GORDY.  Principal  of  the  North  School,  Hartford, 
Conn.    Crown  8vo,  480  pages,  $1.00  net. 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER*S  SONS 

PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK 


■^P«P^:- 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAtlFORNM  LIBRARY 

;""  5J"^^^  -jHe  last  date  stamped  below 
F.nes*ed«,e:,5ce„t.„o.„,,,,„,,,,„^  

One  dollar  on  seventh  day  overdue. 


mV  IQ 


1947 


I5i'.far'49P<; 

m  15  1849 


^^'i' 


-h.q'^^ 


i5Jun'49B6 


LD21-100«.l2,'46(A2M2si6)4I20 


O      l»44 


'^■i 


^^^ 

y  /v 

■  \.) 

> 

r 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


